And So I Change History, and a few Marauders, too
by Yune - The Ravenclaw Writer
Summary: A story about Yune Black, Ravenclaw.
1. Of Owls & Ravens

**A/N. Hullo there fanfiction lovers! This is my debut fanfic, thankyou, thankyou, hold the applause.. *clears throat.* Okay, so.. I have a LOT of ideas for this story, and I'm trying to narrow them down to what I actually want to do, and come up with things to fill in details of my brainstorming. My update schedule is one chapter per Saturday.**

**SUMMARY: This story technically begins at the beginning of Chamber of Secrets. It is in Yune's point of view, an original character, who as I said in the original summary, is in Ravenclaw. She is a year below Harry. The story will follow her years through school, sort of like the original story follows Harry's. For now, it just follows her and her friends' lives throughout their first and second years. Eventually, they will be going back in time to the Marauders' era, hence the story being labeled OC/Marauders. The plotline itself will unveil as you read ;) I might eventually change this into more than one story, possibly a year or two per story.**

**And hey, I'm a newbie. Please review, and share ANY and EVERY comment/concern/suggestion, because they will all be at least appreciated, even if I don't end up using them. Or not. We'll see. And plus, it will make me feel good. And making other people feel good makes YOU feel good, so spread the love, dears. Enjoy(:**

**IMPORTANT: I forgot to put this when I originally posted the story, but I wanted to let you know that Yune is pronounced YOO'nee. It rhymes with "looney." Just clarifying!(:**

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><p>Ch 1: Of Owls and Ravens<p>

_Yune's POV_

**June 10, 1992**

I woke up with a start. I sighed, recalling that I had witnessed the Dream again. The Dream was always the same: I was running out the doors of a huge building—my dream-self never seemed to find the need to turn around and examine what the looming presence I had left was—as if my life depended on it, toward a dark forest. I was clutching something cold in my hand. There were footsteps following me, pursuing me, trying to catch up… I had to reach the forest… When I was underneath the first branches, I slowly opened my hand and turned to face the pursuers, but before I saw either the object or them, I closed my eyes, twisted the object in my hand, and grabbed blindly at the two people in front of me (I assumed it was two, since I only grabbed two wrists); at that moment, my heart always felt as if it was torn out and flung somewhere far away, and I would wake up.

Before I had the chance to ponder what it meant as I usually did, I suddenly realized that it was my eleventh birthday. I jumped out of bed much more quickly than usual and got dressed. I pulled my unruly, curly black hair into a ponytail; I certainly wasn't going to waste my time on hair today. I bounded down the familiar orphanage stairs and into the kitchen.

Mrs. Periwinkle, my caretaker, beamed at me as I took my usual place at the table. (I was the first one up. Hey, stranger things have happened!) As usual, she was dressed all in light blue, her hair tied in a loose knot so as to be out of her face. Today, however, something was different about her. Her eyes sparkled as she said, "Yune, there's a rather small, feathery visitor here to see you!"

I looked at her, bewildered. She slipped out of the room only to return soon after, an entirely black owl perched on her arm; it seemed to be holding something in its beak. The owl fluttered over to where I was sitting and dropped the something, which appeared to be a letter, on my plate.

_Ms Y. Black_

_Room #3 at the head of the stairs_

_Asbury Orphanage for the Young_

_London, England_

I paused to wonder at how they knew what room I lived in, but it was the first letter I had ever received. It had my name on it. Yune Black. Right there. I opened it quickly.

"_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Ms. Black,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress"_

Attached was a list of the items required. The books were ridiculous; the very first one was The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). The equipment included a wand and a cauldron, and it mentioned we were allowed to bring an owl or a toad or a cat. I stared at Mrs. Periwinkle, completely dumbfounded.

She quickly said, "My dear, this is a great honor. You have wizard blood running through your veins, and Dumbledore told me you would probably get in, though that's about all he told me, minus to keep an eye on you, and your name of course…"

"_Dumbledore?_ The headmaster of a _wizard _school gave me to you?" The way I said the words "Dumbledore" and "wizard" made them sound like I was discussing Santa Claus, and I was one of his forgotten elves to be fetched to come work at his workshop. I felt my expression turn sour. "Look, if this is supposed to be some kind of good birthday joke—" I began, exasperated.

"No, no, you don't understand! Oh, I knew I should have said something sooner…"

Yeah, you think? But I didn't say so, I loved her too much; she was the only person I had ever called friend. The other orphans…Well, they came and went. Besides, I was never like them anyway. Whenever one would mention favorite books, for example, I found myself starting to analyze some of my favorites aloud; before long, I was in what seemed to be a deep debate, until I realized that it was with myself, not them. I learned to stop talking and just leave the room.

"So you're saying that magic—" I couldn't help but make the word "magic" drip a little scorn, "—is real, and I'm to go to a school to learn it."

She nodded. I sighed. But then I felt myself starting to get excited. I felt that it was right somehow. Besides, anything would be better than the very unsatisfactory lack of anything mentally challenging here at the orphanage, even if it did mean going to a _magic_ school, which would probably make **me** mentally challenged. _Magic. _The black owl, who I had almost forgotten was there, gave my head a friendly peck. It just occurred to me that an owl had delivered the fateful envelope. _Magic. _The word sounded a little more hopeful as I stroked my bird's feathers. I then realized what was different about my caretaker today: she seemed hopeful. Usually she was just extremely worried all the time, always bidding me to be careful. _Magic._

"She belongs to you," Mrs. Periwinkle said, shaking me out of my reverie.

I felt a shiver run through me. The owl? Mine?

"In that case, I name her Raven," I replied. I had meant to ask how I had obtained an owl, and why I had never seen her before, but the name came to me on its own accord. Raven met my eyes and blinked. _Magic._

**August 21, 1992**

September was approaching quickly. Today, Mrs. Periwinkle would be taking me to a place called Diagon Alley, apparently hidden behind a pub called The Leaky Cauldron. I climbed into her car, still a little skeptical of it all. I couldn't help it; I had been a boring orphan all my life, for pity's sake!

It seemed to take forever to get there, but upon reflection, the rest of the day's events were a blur. Mrs. Periwinkle was providing me with everything I needed with the money I didn't know she had, especially since I didn't recognize what type of money it was; I had never seen it before. I remember being fitted for school robes (yes, their uniform consisted of black robes and a black pointy hat. How could I go there? I had never even seen a wand before…), finding my books (which was much like a scavenger hunt), browsing the owlery for things for Raven (who insisted on staying glued to my arm, much to the dismay of the afore-mentioned robe fitters), and finally: getting a wand.

_9 inches. Ash. Springy. Core: Dragon heartstring._

When Ollivander had found it, he handed it to me with the words, "Haven't given a wand to a Black in years. Though it's not a usual Black wand."

My heart started beating faster. "Usual?" I asked, my voice squeaky.

"Hmm? Well, yes, the Blacks have had a reputation for the Dark Arts, you know. That particular combination doesn't support that sort of thing very well."

I nodded silently and left, staring at my wand as if deciding whether I quite liked it, or if it was going to bite me when I wasn't looking.

_Blacks? Usual? Dark Arts?_

_ …Magic?_

Well, after spending a day like that, I had to accept that it was real.

**September 1, 1992**

The next ten days went by rather quickly. As Mrs. Periwinkle led me to the train station from her car, I held her hand like I used to do when I was young. I felt no shame for it; I would be leaving the only friend I ever had to live at a mysterious (_magic_) school for a year.

She gave my hand a squeeze and let go. "Yune, it's almost time. I remember the first time I stepped onto this platform…" I looked at her, startled, but she only smiled and continued. "Your platform is right here: nine and three quarters."

We were facing a brick wall. She sniffed, and then pushed me and my cart of magical books and items I had no idea how to use—and Raven, of course, still perched on my arm—right into the wall. I closed my eyes, and opened them to behold the Hogwarts Express.

I soon found myself sitting inside of a small train compartment with two companions. Two of them were discussing what house they would be put in; the first one, Reyson, seemed convinced he would be in Gryffindor. "The Calills have been in Gryffindor for _ages_, so I have my fate pretty much set out for me," he said, somewhat sadly.

Alice, the girl sitting across from him, agreed. Upon reflection, this is the only thing they'd ever agreed about. "Yeah, same for me, except Slytherin. We've been there for almost as long as the Malfoys."

Reyson smirked. "Destined enemies, then. I've heard Slytherins are slimy gits." I had been quiet for most of the ride; force of habit, I suppose, since no one at the orphanage appreciated what I had to say all that often; except for Mrs. Periwinkle, of course. But Reyson, before Alice could make a comeback, asked me, "What about you? What's your name? Where do you think you'll end up? You pureblood too?"

"My name is Yune Black."

Before I could answer any of his other questions (which seemed endless), the Alice girl breathed in sharply. "You're a Black? I thought the Blacks had died out! Well, you'll be in Slytherin with me, then. Who are your parents? Maybe we're related," she said, twirling some of her black hair. Well, we did have a slight resemblance, I suppose, but I noticed that her eyes were a sharp green. I felt a small pang of jealousy; mine had always been a depressing grey.

"Erhm…" I began eloquently. "Well, my parents…I don't know." She tipped her head inquisitively, so I continued. "I've been an orphan all my life; I didn't know anything about magic until I got my letter. I apologize; I don't know what a pureblood is." I directed the last statement towards Reyson.

Alice looked as if she had just eaten something sour. "Nevermind. Must be coincidence." She didn't talk to either of us for the rest of the way there. I decided I didn't like her.

Reyson glared at her, and then looked at me apologetically. "Don't mind her. Like I say, Slytherins are slimy gits." She glared back. "But _anyway_, pureblood just means that both your parents are wizards, and have been for as long as most people can remember. Halfblood means you're half-wizard, half-muggle decent; and muggle-born—" Alice muttered something under her breath that sounded like "mblud", at which Reyson then gave her the death look, "—I'll deal with her later. As I was saying, muggle-born is when both your parents are muggles."

"Erhm," I said for the second time, "What are muggles?"

I spent the rest of the ride listening to him explain things about the wizarding world; every so often he would flick his dark blonde hair out of his eyes and think for a moment, trying to put it in muggle terms, I suppose. Eventually he also told me who and what the houses were.

Gryffindor, brave.

Slytherin, cunning.

Hufflepuff, loyal.

And Ravenclaw, smart.

Do orphans fit in any of those categories?

I suddenly realized that I very, very much hoped so.

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><p><strong>And there you have it. Thanks very much for reading! It was rather short, but it was meant to be more of an introduction than anything.<strong>

**Please review(:**


	2. Of Hats & Unexpected Twists

**A/N. Hello again! Before you read, here's a little prep information: Yune is a year below Harry, so this would technically be taking place at the beginning of Chamber of Secrets.**** This chapter contains the sorting, which Harry and Ron are NOT in attendance for this year, because of the flying car incident. Since this is the case, J.K. Rowling did not write a Sorting Hat song for this chapter, so I wrote one myself, because you CAN'T have a sorting without a Sorting Hat song. (:**

**DISCLAIMER: Speaking of J.K. Rowling, she owns all of the Harry Potter series, not I, in case you were worried. All rights go to her, except for my original characters and plot, set around the world and characters that she has already created. This little disclaimer counts for all of the chapters of this story. Also, I have been making sure to plan my story so that no parts go against her original story, but if you see a mistake that goes against the books, please let me know.**

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><p>Ch 2: Of Hats and Unexpected Twists<p>

_Yune's POV_

**September 1, 1992**

When we had finally arrived at our destination, the first-years were separated from the rest of the students, and taken across a lake in boats. Reyson and I climbed into a boat, where we were soon joined by a red-headed girl and a blonde one, who introduced themselves as Ginny and Luna.

"I wonder why they make the first-years go this way," said Ginny.

Luna shrugged, and said in a calm voice, "I don't mind. The lake really is lovely. I wonder if I would be allowed to fish for plimpies here."

"Plimpies?" I asked curiously.

"Oh yes, the gulping plimpy is particularly wonderful in soup. My father has an excellent recipe!"

I looked at my two companions to see if they were also confused. They were.

Our thoughts were interrupted when the boats reached the opposite shore, and we were led inside the magnificent Hogwarts castle. Instead of going straight to the Great Hall, we were led to a side room to wait for everyone to arrive. Reyson and I had somehow lost Ginny and Luna in the crowd.

"Reyson," I asked tentatively, "What do they _do_ to sort you, exactly?"

At first he didn't reply, which made me even more worried. He finally said, "Well, actually, I don't know. No one in my family will ever tell me; not even my older brother, and he's told me loads about Hogwarts."

_Well, that was encouraging, _I thought wryly. What if we were tested on our magic? I didn't think to try to learn any spells... I jumped when I heard McGonagall announce that it was time.

I instinctively grabbed onto Reyson's robes as the first-years massed around us towards the door. "Are you all right?" he asked in a concerned voice, looking down at me.

"Fine. Sorry, just nervous about it all, I guess." I dropped my hand.

"Don't worry about it. They won't do anything we aren't prepared for. Hey, if we're lucky, we'll be in the same house!" He smiled at me encouragingly.

I attempted to smile back, but what he said worried me. I didn't know if I was brave enough to get into Gryffindor. But my thoughts were distracted when I turned my attention to what was now in front of me. What my eyes saw made me gasp in amazement. We had just entered a huge room with four large tables, two on either side of us. There were banners bearing the house names on the walls, and everywhere were floating candlesticks. I looked up at the ceiling to see how tall the room was, but instead I saw an endless night sky.

When Reyson saw me gazing at it, he leaned over and whispered, "It's enchanted to look like the sky outside." I nodded silently as we shuffled with the others towards the front of the room, where a fifth table of adults sat.

We gathered around a small stool that had a very old, beaten-up wizard hat on it. To our complete surprise, it burst into song.

"_Welcome, young wizards, gather round!_

_For I'm here to tell a tale._

_It shall explain the houses you're bound_

_To be in, for I won't fail_

_In sorting you, my dear, dear friends,_

_To the house that suits you best._

_And there you shall be by whatever ends_

_When I put your mind to the test._

_Shall I put you in Slytherin?_

_You will have to be cunning._

_Salazar thought only purebloods could win;_

_To be placed here, your ambition is stunning_

_Or Gryffindor is the one you seek,_

_For bravery there isn't lacking._

_Sir Godric decided you can't be meek,_

_For if you are, I'll send you packing_

_To Ravenclaw instead, if you're clever,_

_For here are those that are smart._

_Rowena could send you on such an endeavor_

_That would kill you if you aren't._

_Last but not least is dear Hufflepuff,_

_Whose loyalty is nothing to laugh at._

_They won't abandon you when things get rough_

_Unlike those who are a rat._

_So come, dear friends, and put me on_

_Your rather comfy young small head,_

_I promise now it won't be long_

_Until your fate is said!"_

I applauded, quite impressed, with the rest of the students in the hall. I was getting excited.

"When I say your name, you are to sit on the stool and place the hat on your head. When your house has been decided, go and sit at the table with the others of your house," McGonagall instructed.

I didn't have to wait long. After three people had been sorted, one of them being Alice, who did indeed go to Slytherin, McGonagall called, "Black, Yune!"

I glanced over to where Alice had just sat down. A few of the Slytherins were looking at me curiously. My eyes took a quick sweep of the other three tables, but only a few from those houses were even paying attention at all. I sat down and set the hat on my head. As it slipped down over my eyes, I heard a voice inside my head.

"_Hmm," _the hat mused, _"And where shall we put you? I could put you in Slytherin; I've put plenty of Blacks there before…"_

I tensed. _No._

"_No? Hmm, perhaps not. You have a lot of your father in you, and his brave, outgoing spirit. I could put you in Gryffindor." _I thought of Reyson. He had hoped we would be in the same house. _"But no. Your mother's wit has prevailed, I think. __**Ravenclaw!**__"_

I took off the hat and placed it on the stool, then made my way to the cheering Ravenclaw table. I had no idea what the hat had been talking about, so I blocked it out of my mind for the time being. I put on a smile for my new house members patting me on the back.

The list of names seemed to be endless. I probably would have been bored if I wasn't so fascinated by all of it.

"Alexander, Nicholas!" Slight pause. "_Hufflepuff!"_

"Weasley, Ginny!" That was the red-head from earlier. Slight pause. "_Gryffindor!_"

"Henderson, Jonathan!" Slight pause. "_Gryffindor!_"

"Calill, Reyson!" I looked up. On his way to the stool, he waved at someone at the Gryffindor table, who waved back; I guessed that this was his older brother. Then he searched the Ravenclaw table till he found me, and met my eyes. He sat down and pulled on the hat. Thirty seconds later, the hat announced, "_Ravenclaw!_"

_What?_

He stood from the stool, looking dazed, making his way to the table and sitting down next to me. Most of the Gryffindors were staring at him in amazement, and many of the other students, too, but Ravenclaw just cheered. I looked at him questioningly.

"I have no idea, either," he said.

"Lovegood, Luna!" McGonagall called. The strange girl from the boat had stepped forward. The hat didn't take long before he announced that she would be joining us in Ravenclaw, too. We cheered with the others, and she sat down across the table from us, smiling dreamily.

A little while later, after the last first-year sat down at their new table ("_Slytherin!_"), Dumbledore stood up. He made a small speech about the Dark Forest around the grounds being forbidden, and other beginning of the year announcements, and then the feast began.

When we had finally eaten our fill, the prefects came and herded the first-years into little groups, and led us to our house common rooms. The Ravenclaws headed to the west part of the castle, till we were at the base of a large spiral staircase, leading up into one of the many towers of Hogwarts. When we finally reached the top, we had to pause before a single wooden door with an eagle-shaped bronze knocker.

"_What runs past mountain, meadow, field, and hill, but follows a river while standing still?_" the eagle inquired.

_Well that's easy,_ I thought to myself, _A riverbank._

The prefect responded, "A riverbank." The door opened. He turned to face the first-years filed behind him and said, "Ravenclaw Tower has always been guarded by a riddle. It changes often, but everyone is given the new answer when it does. But if you happen to forget it, you're in Ravenclaw, I'm sure you'll figure it out." He winked.

Reyson glanced at me nervously. I had a feeling that he hadn't gotten the riddle as quickly as I had. We followed the prefect into Ravenclaw Tower.

We had entered a large round room with a midnight-blue carpet. Tall, arched windows with dark blue drapes made up the walls, with a just-as-tall bookcase built directly into the wall between each. A sliding ladder stood in front of one. All around us were downy couches colored the same blue as the floor, with cherry wood legs and cherry coffee tables in front of them. On the right side of the room, there was a pause in the window-bookcase pattern to make a place for a large fireplace. On the wall across from us, there was a life-sized marble statue in front of an arched window of a woman with a stern but kindly face. Cut into the wall on either side of her were entrances to two more spiral staircases, but these were narrower than the one we had just left. The ceiling above was covered in decorative designs of stars and centaurs, and overall, I decided that I would be quite happy to live here for the next seven years.

The prefect handed out schedules, said that the boys' dormitory was at the top of the left-side staircase, and the girls' was on the right.

"See you tomorrow, then?" Reyson asked.

"See you then!" I said, waving, and then climbed the stairs with several other girls. At the top was an entrance to a short hall, with seven doors that each bore a number. I entered the one that had a one on it.

This room had six beds inside, each with the signature Ravenclaw-blue curtains. The room was square, unlike the common room, with three beds on each side, and the wall at the end of the room was entirely made of glass, with drapes that were pulled closed, since it was now night time. I peaked between the drapes. The view of the mountains was splendid. I found my things, including Raven perched in her cage, placed on the bed closest to the sky wall on the left side. I sat down on the bed and sighed.

I was quickly joined by the other five girls, one of them being Luna. I smiled at one of them, a short girl with freckles, and she grinned back; this girl's bed was right next to mine.

"Well, at least we don't have to argue about which beds we get," this girl commented. She pulled her mousy brown hair into a ponytail and started organizing her belongings.

"Yes, that is rather nice," Luna remarked. Her bed was opposite mine on the other wall. "It would be a pity if the glass was to break and we all fell out," she mused at random.

The girl next to her agreed that yes, it would be a pity, but let's not think about that, and what are all our names? Hers is Tilly. I soon found out that the girl next to me was Marcia, and the other two, whose beds are closest to the doors, are Amy and Eva.

Not long after that, we had gotten ourselves organized, and Luna took out a book and began to read. The other five of us began to talk.

"Isn't it all just wonderful?" Marcia said, lying on her bed on her back, except that her feet were propped up on the pillows where her head should be.

Amy nodded. She was carefully braiding her long brown hair. "I keep pinching myself because I'm scared I'm dreaming. My parents weren't wizards, so all of this came as a really big shock."

Marcia replied, "Yeah, my folks are actually pretty boring. I used to spend hours reading because I wanted to get away from all of that practical stuff. I inhaled books. It's funny, every time I read one I always seem to remember it in detail when I think about it later."

Eva, the girl on the other side of Marcia, said, "Doesn't seem very natural…"

"What is natural about us?" retorted Marcia. Amy nodded in agreement.

"Don't be silly," said Tilly, "'Course we're natural. Just different. My parents were both wizards, thanks much, and they were probably about as boring as your parents! Well, minus most of the chores being done by magic and that sort of thing…" She trailed off, suddenly realizing how seemingly unnatural her life had been.

"So what about you, Yune? What're your parents like?" Eva asked, not unlike Reyson had in the train.

"I'm an orphan, so I don't really know," I responded simply.

They all went quiet, but then Luna piped up, looking up from her book, "That's absolutely fascinating! I wonder if they were eaten by yorkingtiles…That would be rather terrible, but that means they were quite heroic."

I started to ask what yorkingtiles were, but decided against it. I'd rather not imagine my parents being eaten by them, whatever they were.

After a while, Eva, Amy, Tilly, and Luna had all gone to sleep. I laid there with my eyes open. Now that I had time to think, it had all sort of hit me. I was a witch now, and I was at a boarding school far away from the only place I had ever known. My parents had been witches and wizards, too, according to the Sorting Hat. Mrs. Periwinkle had been a witch. She had said so at the platform.

"Can't sleep either?" Marcia whispered.

"No," I replied. "I can't stop thinking."

I see Marcia's silhouetted head nod. "Yeah, me either. I've always thought too much. I can't decide if that's a blessing or a curse."

I smile at the truth of that statement. I think back to the other children at the orphanage, and how I was different from them. Hesitantly, I asked, "Did other kids treat you, you know, differently?"

Marcia stirred. "Yeah, actually. They never seemed to want to talk about what I wanted to talk about."

"Exactly!" I pause. "Well, now we know we're Ravenclaw witches. Maybe that's why. Kind of gives you hope, doesn't it?"

She turned over and grinned at me. "You're completely right. That makes me feel a lot better."

I thought it might. "Good. See you in the morning, then?"

"You bet," she replied. Not long after, I heard her breathing slow, and I knew she was asleep. I pondered everything a little bit longer, and then followed her example.

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><p><strong>There you are! If you are wondering, J.K. Rowling did not go into much detail of the description of Ravenclaw Tower, so some of it is invented by me. The common room is based on the small description she did have, but the dorms were never explored.<strong>

**I still don't know what my update schedule shall be like, but I shall try to have a minimum of a new chapter every Saturday. I don't know this for sure, but I shall try.**


	3. Of Newfound Friends & Unwanted Dreams

**A/N: Hello all! Well, I said I'd have a chapter up every Saturday, and there are still two hours left of it. I met the deadline, yayy!**

**This chapter was difficult to write. I suffered a mild case of writer's block earlier this week, and I spent Friday tweaking my storyline plan. But it is here, despite the obstacles, and I have a much clearer idea of what I'm doing now.**

**A big thanks to:**

**My sister, for being editor and listener for my ideas!**

**CatchingCraziness for her awesome support and a little bit of research help. Go check out her stories, they're really awesome(:**

**Mercy'sFoundaWayforMe for reviewing and introducing me to the site, she's awesome sauce3 Her stories are hilarious, so check them out too.**

**Chadders for her review, and for writing a really amazing Sirius/OC fanfic. Go check THAT out too.**

**Isabelle Sparrow for her review. She's writing an interesting Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic, and I'm sure she'd love your support, so check out THAT too!**

**And Isle of Capri & ladymoonsoar for adding my story to their alerts(:**

**I won't have such a long list of thank yous every time, but I really do appreciate your reviews and for reading!**

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><p>Ch 3: Of Newfound Friends and Unwanted Dreams<p>

**September 2nd, 1992**

I woke up the next morning to find that I was the first one awake. Again. I really miss sleeping for as long as possible. I barely got any at all during the nights after my fateful birthday. I stared at the blue canopy hanging over my four-poster bed, willing myself to go back to sleep. My excited nerves didn't let me, though, so I climbed out of bed with a sigh and flung back the drapes covering our sky wall, letting in a burst of light. Tilly groaned and muttered, "What was that for, I need sleep!"

"Don't be silly," I said patronizingly, glancing behind me, but silently agreeing with her. "It's our first day of Hogwarts, why would you want sleep?" I turned back to the sky wall and gazed at the mountain peaks in the distance. "And just look at the view," I said, my voice wistful. "I've always liked the mountains. They're so open and free." But I tore my eyes away and forced myself back into reality. On the night table next to my bed was our class schedule, where I had laid it last night. "Let's see…" I began, looking it over. "The first class is Charms. Does anyone know where the Charms classroom is?" I asked hopefully.

"You read it wrong," Marcia informed me, clambering out of bed and stretching. "First is breakfast. We'll worry about Charms after that."

At her words, Tilly jumped out of bed, tiredness forgotten. "Marcia's right. Food is important."

Half an hour later, the first-year Ravenclaw girls arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast. Tilly, Eva, and Amy sat together in a little group, and I was about to join them when I spotted Reyson. To my surprise, Marcia followed me as I walked over to where he was sitting.

"Good morning!" he greeted, as we sat down across from him. He finished the pasty he was eating, and, noticing Marcia, continued, "And who are you?"

"Marcia," she replied, sticking her hand out. "Muggle-born. Any more of those pasties left?"

He shook her hand and said, "Pleasure to meet you, Marcia Muggle-born. I'm Reyson." He offered her the plate of the remaining pasties.

"So, Reyson, any ideas on why…" I began.

"…I'm in Ravenclaw? Nope, no clue. I'm sort of glad though. My brother told me that there's this Gryffindor first-year that won't stop raving about Harry Potter. Colin, I think his name was."

"Who's Harry Potter?" Marcia and I said, almost at the same time. We looked at each other embarrassed.

Reyson choked on the milk he was drinking. "Well, he's the boy who lived, of course. The one He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named failed to kill."

"What kind of silly name is that?" Marcia scoffed.

"He's the Dark Lord, said to be one of the strongest wizards of all time, especially in the Dark Arts, of course. He's so powerful, nobody dares speak his name. He was going after Harry Potter's powerful wizard parents because they were opposing him during the Death Eater Rebellion. And of course he really wanted Harry killed off, because he didn't want any threats. But when he cast the killing curse, baby Harry lived. That made Vo— erhm, You-Know-Who— disappear, and instead of dying, Harry got a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead." He turned around and searched the Gryffindor table. "Yeah, there he is, next to the ginger and the bushy-haired girl. The three of them saved the school from a huge troll last year during the Halloween feast."

I stared at the boy he had pointed at. What made him so special? He was a black-haired twelve-year-old with glasses. "Are trolls very hard to defeat?" I asked.

Reyson shrugged. "Mark didn't say. Oh, Mark is my brother."

"Your brother sure does tell you a lot," said Marcia.

"Not really. Most wizards know all of that before they get here. Take that Colin fellow I was talking about; he's a Muggle-born too, and he obviously knows about him." He looked back at where Harry and his two friends were seated, and sure enough, a boy with a camera was talking to him animatedly.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Marcia said airily. "So he survived, what's the big deal? Anyway, I'm just glad we didn't get into all this magic stuff when the Death Eater Rebellion was going on."

Reyson didn't respond. We would have probably spent the rest of our breakfast in silence, but then the owls came. There were so many of them, of all different types and colors. To my delight, Raven swooped down to me. I petted her fondly and asked Reyson, "Why are the owls here?"

"Well, usually they deliver the morning mail," he replied, "But your bird doesn't have a letter. I guess she just dropped by to say hello."

I looked at my owl delightedly. "Well, aren't you a lovely bird, Raven," I crooned. She hooted and pecked my hand lovingly. "Off you go now," I said. "Back with the other owls." Right when she flew away, a booming voice came from the Gryffindor table, making all of us jump.

"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR? I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME! Oh, and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud."

By now, everyone in the Great Hall was staring at the table where Harry and the red-headed boy, apparently named Ronald Weasley, were sitting. Come to think of it, Ginny, the girl I had met yesterday, did look a lot like him. The red envelope that had been doing the yelling stuck its tongue out at Ron before tearing itself to shreds.

We looked at each other with serious expressions, and then cracked up laughing. Upon reflection, it was a good thing Ron had gotten that Howler, as Reyson told me it was called. The three of us quickly changed from nervous acquaintances to friends.

Later on, the Ravenclaw first-years worked together to find the Charms classroom. We were only fifteen minutes late, which was better than other first-years apparently, since the classroom was mostly empty. We were greeted by a very short older man, who peered up at us through his glasses and smoothed his graying brown hair. "Ah, the Ravenclaws have found their way first, as per usual. I expected nothing less from my own house," he said, smiling up at us fondly. "Choose your seats and take out your Standard Book of Spells, if you please."

Reyson, Marcia, and I made our way over to seats near the back on the left side of the classroom. Tilly separated herself from Amy and Eva, who sat in the front, and joined us. Luna wandered over and claimed the desk in front of the four of us, while the other Ravenclaw boys flocked to the back corner on the right side. _Seating decisions are very important_, I mused. _They tell a lot about people, and form groups and boundaries that are not easily broken._

"While we wait," he continued, looking over us, unaware of the decisions that had just been made, "I will introduce myself. I am Professor Flitwick, and I am Head of Ravenclaw House. I have taught Charms for many years now, and I am also the choir conductor! Choir audition dates will be put on the bulletin board in Ravenclaw Tower; I hope some of you will show interest!"

My head perked up. I've always liked singing, though I don't know if I'm any good at it. Mrs. Periwinkle always seemed to enjoy it when I sang for her, but she might have been biased. Tilly, seeing my look, whispered, "I'll audition if you do."

"Deal," I responded.

"You could offer me a thousand galleons and I wouldn't audition," stated Reyson. Marcia bobbed her head agreement.

"Good thing no one's offering, then," I said. "You're so doing it. Both of you are."

Marcia whipped her head around to face me. "Are you kidding me? Not gonna happen."

"Oh, but it is," Tilly said grimly. "If I'm doing it, you have to, too."

I grinned at Tilly. Reyson and Marcia groaned. Before they had a chance to protest any more, the students from the other houses started drifting into the classroom in little groups. I wondered why none of them had thought to work together like we had.

Colin, to our relief, sat with the other Gryffindor boy first-years on the other side of the room, but Ginny sat down next to Luna, dodging around the group of giggling girls she had entered with.

"What are they laughing about?" asked Reyson, peering at the girls like they were a different species.

"Who knows," Ginny said with a sigh. She looked tired, as if those giggles had kept her awake last night. She smiled at me. "Hey Yune, first day going okay?"

"Great, thanks!" I replied. And it was true, it was going great. I looked around at the little group I was now a part of. I belonged here. I had never felt like I belonged anywhere before. "Amazing, actually. Best I've ever felt."

"I tend to have that effect on people…" said Reyson, looking off into space innocently.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's it all right. I am now friends with the great Reyson Calill, the boy who was sorted into Ravenclaw, yet fails at solving riddles," I said, thinking back to the bronze eagle.

He pulled an expression of mock hurt, but I ignored him. Alice had walked in and was whispering to two Slytherin girls, who were both staring straight at me. My face flushed and I turned away.

"What's wrong with them?" asked Tilly, jerking a thumb toward the Slytherins. "Well, besides the usual things wrong with Slytherins."

Reyson shot me a quick worried glance before turning to Tilly. "Alice sat in our compartment on the way to Hogwarts. She thought Yune would be in Slytherin because of her last name: Black," he said.

"Oh, it didn't even register that your last name is Black! She has a point though; Blacks are one of the classic Dark Arts wizarding families."

I glared at her and said, "Yeah, I know. Thanks for reminding me. Now go tell someone else pointless information. I'm sure it will make their day."

She looked away, embarrassed, and I automatically felt bad.

"Sorry, I'm just—" I quickly began, blushing.

My apology was cut short by Professor Flitwick clearing his throat loudly and announcing it was time to begin, and that when the remaining Hufflepuffs find their seat, to take out the Standard Book of Spells. I gave Tilly a worried look, but she just mouthed, _It's fine, wasn't thinking, _and then smiled at me.

I smiled back, and tried to focus on the lesson, but it didn't work. I kept casting glances towards Alice. Once, I caught her looking back, but she just scowled and turned away.

Reyson nudged me. "Yune, how many times do I have to tell you Slytherins are slimy gits? Ignore her," he whispered, grinning at me.

I nodded and smiled back. "You're right," I said. _But why did I snap at Tilly like that?_

The rest of the day passed without anything of real interest, except for maybe when we met our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It was during that class that I decided Reyson had been sorted into Ravenclaw because of his ability to come up with witty remarks that had hidden purposes without even being detected.

"Hello, class, my name is Professor Lockhart, as I'm sure most of you already know," our professor began, treating us with his blinding smile. The Gryffindor girls tittered. "I am, after all, a celebrity." More titters. He searched the classroom until his eyes found us. "Ah, there's some Ravenclaws. My old house, you know. Professor Flitwick once said I was top of his class!" No tittering. The Gryffindor girls were glaring in our direction, but Amy and Eva were grinning. Marcia, Tilly, and I exchanged a general rolling of eyes.

"Professor," began Reyson. All eyes riveted towards him. "Your teeth are so clean. How do you do it? You must tell us your secret!"

"Well, my boy," he said, obviously flustered, "My smile did win Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. But as for how I do it, that is my secret." He winked.

Reyson looked stricken. "But, Professor! How shall any of us survive without a perfect smile _just like_ yours?" I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. "You see? Yune is already hitting her mouth in frustration! We _must_ know!"

Professor Lockhart looked at me, concerned. "My dear, I am so sorry, but not everyone is blessed with my miraculous dental hygiene." He looked like he meant it. I tried not to look like I was using all of my efforts not to burst out laughing, and tears started welling up in my eyes from the strain. He stared at me, perplexed. "Don't cry! Very well, I shall have to tell you."

"Tell her?" Reyson exclaimed, outraged. "Can't you see? You're making it worse!" It was true, that did make it worse. I flung my arms on my desk and buried my head, shaking with laughter.

He cleared his throat nervously. By now, several others in the room were behaving the same way I was. Tilly piped in, "Professor, I think we need to take her to the Hospital Wing."

He must have nodded, because I felt hands supporting me and lifting me out of my chair. I didn't bother trying to hide anything; I had always sounded like I was distraught when I laughed, anyway. Reyson and Tilly dragged me out, Marcia following after with a look of mock concern. When we were in the hallway, we all laughed until our lungs hurt while we raced back to the common room.

"I can't believe you talked us out of class!" Marcia said when she caught her breath, looking at Reyson with a newfound respect.

Reyson looked at me. "Told you I'd make your day great," he said, with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, making me choke on laughter and forcing me to try not to get detention," I responded, trying to sound unimpressed.

To our delight, that had been the last class of the day. We spent the evening lounging in the common room, joking and doing the Potions homework Professor Snape had assigned. That was definitely not a fun class in the least, and not even Reyson would be able to talk his way out of anything in there. But nothing could ruin the best day of my life.

I spoke too soon. That night, I had a dream. No, it wasn't the Dream.

At first, I was walking through a field that was filled with flowers and shiny smiles, and my new friends were skipping along beside me. It was a good dream, and we were laughing and grinning at each other. But then the field withered and turned black; my friends faded to be replaced with the sneering Alice and her two friends. The smiles suddenly seemed blindingly bright, and turned into Howlers. "WHY YOU'RE IN RAVENCLAW I HAVE NO IDEA!" "THE NERVE OF YOU, BETRAYING SLYTHERIN LIKE THAT!" "THE DARK ARTS ARE THE BEST KIND!" "YOU WOULD HAVE DONE SO WELL!" "YOU HAVE BETRAYED THE BLACK FAMILY NAME FOREVER!"

They were all screaming at me at once. I tried to block it out, putting my hands over my ears, but it just made it louder.

"You're a Black, you'll come around," Alice said, grinning at me. "Don't you remember talking to Tilly? How she turned away from your words? Words have power. You have a lot of power, Yune Black."

"YOU'RE A BLACK," the Howlers yelled. The smiles turned to fangs. "BLACK NAME, BLACK HEART," they chanted.

_ Black name, black heart._

They wouldn't stop. They would never stop, I would never be able to get away from the shouting; it was so loud. The fanged smiles were coming closer, circling me.

_Black name, black heart._

The two girls accompanying Alice had grabbed hold of my arms so that I couldn't run.

_Black name, black heart._

"NO!" I yelled suddenly. The smiles fell, shattering when they hit the ground. Alice looked deeply hurt. I felt shame heating up my face. The girls let go of my arms and walked away, casting sad looks behind them.

My eyes suddenly opened, and I was back in the Ravenclaw dorm room. I got up and peaked through the drapes. It was still dark. I climbed back in bed, but I couldn't sleep. My head was ringing.

_"You're a Black,"_ Alice had said.

_Black name, black heart._

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed(: Please review and let me know what you think! I'm hoping that in the future I can start making longer chapters, but for now, I'm still getting in the hang of things, soo.. Thanks again, see you next Saturday! Reviews equal love. Love equals cookies. Spread the cookies~<strong>

**I have a poll up on my profile asking who your favorite character is so far. Your vote might affect how much I use them(:**


	4. Of Secrets & Broomsticks

**A/N: It's a short chapter. Again. Sorry. But it's an update! Yayyy!** **I don't have any comments about this one really…But I hope you like!**

**Big thanks to yvonna and flowerspot for adding the story to their alerts, and for all the other loverly people that I already thanked last chapter(:**

**Read and review, yus?**

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><p>Ch 4: Of Secrets and Broomsticks<p>

**September 3rd, 1992**

Dawn eventually came, but it took its time. When the first rays of light slipped through the curtains, I greeted them coldly. _Took you long enough._

Luna awoke first. "Good morning, Yune," she said, seeing my eyes open. She hopped out of bed and started searching for something in her bag. When she emerged, she walked over to me, clutching something in her hand. "Here," she said, holding out a small circular mirror with a tiny hole at the top that a string had been strung through. "I heard you tossing and turning last night. I'm a light sleeper." I could believe that; she had only just gotten out of bed, and her eyes were already wide open. "Put this around your neck when you sleep. It's a mirror, you see; it will reflect reality back into you, and keep the marebats away."

I really didn't have any idea what a marebat was, but I felt my tired eyes tear up. I had barely even talked to her, and she was thoughtful enough to give me a present just because she had heard me tossing and turning. "Thank you, Luna. That means a lot to me." I took the makeshift necklace and laid it gently on my night table.

She smiled her signature dreamy smile at me, nodded, and was back in her corner of the room by the time the others were stirring.

At breakfast, I couldn't stop stealing glances at the Slytherin table. At one point, a blonde-haired boy happened to look up, and our eyes accidentally met. He sneered and turned away. Did I really belong with people like that? I must have zoned out, because I felt Marcia poking me on the shoulder repeatedly.

"Earth to Yune," she said, "Didn't you hear me? I asked if we have Flying today."

"We've decided that you're the keeper of the schedule," Tilly said cheerily.

"Besides, I've already lost mine," Reyson said, patting his robes to prove his point.

I sighed dramatically. "What would you do without me?" I asked, pausing to take out the schedule from my bag. "Yeah, Flying's after Potions."

Marcia let out a whoop, causing some fifth-years down the table to glare at us with expressions that clearly read, _I swear first-years get more idiotic every year._ She blushed and looked at us. "Sorry. I'm just excited."

"Yeah, you should have seen her yesterday when I told her about Quidditch. She was trying to get me to teach her. She was talking so quickly I could barely get in the fact that we aren't allowed to try out in first-year," said Tilly.

"I've always dreamed about flying," she said, her cheeks still a little red. "I want to be a Chaser."

"Quidditch?" I asked. I had learned that if I just said an unfamiliar wizard term in the form of a question, Reyson and Tilly would start ranting about it.

This time, though, it was Marcia who answered. "Quidditch is a wizard sport, entirely performed on broomsticks," she began, bright-eyed.

The remainder of the morning was spent discussing the sport in great detail. The rules were explained to me in whispers during our first class of the day, History of Magic. It was taught by an ancient ghost, Professor Binns, who just droned on and on about goblin rebellions and wizard relations, and we were in the back, so whispering was easily done. I wrote an occasional note in case anything he said was important, and I saw Marcia cock her ear occasionally. I trusted that her good memory applied to lectures, too, and not just books.

After that was Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Reyson discovered that Professor Lockhart claimed to have been the Seeker for Ravenclaw when he was at school. We also discovered that it was pretty easy to discuss the pros and cons of each position while he just thought we were praising his Quidditch skills, and so we spent the rest of the class doing just that. When we left, several students were casting us reverent glances for causing another interesting class. Colin trotted next to us for a little while, blabbering something about how he thought that Professor Lockhart was a pretty amazing Quidditch player, too, and he sympathized our interest.

And so, by the time lunch came, Marcia and I had even decided—with help from Reyson and Tilly—who our favorite professional Quidditch team was, and that we couldn't wait till Flying. I had even forgotten that I didn't belong in Ravenclaw, I was so excited. Well, almost forgotten. When we walked out of the Great Hall, I bumped into Alice.

"Watch where you're going, _Black_," she leered.

I didn't respond, but Reyson said, "Ignore her, Yune," and glared at her stonily.

We kept walking, but one of her friends stuck her foot out and tripped me. Tilly and Marcia caught my arms, and Reyson glanced at me with concern before turning back to them. "If you weren't girls, I would have hurt you by now," he threatened.

"Back off it, Reyson; they're just jealous that we got Yune and they didn't," stated Tilly.

Unfortunately, Potions was next, but I didn't care. I loved my friends, and they wanted me with them. Life's simple pleasures. I hooked arms with Reyson and Tilly, who in turn grabbed Marcia, and we skipped to the dungeons. People were looking at us like we were crazy, but we didn't stop until we reached Snape's classroom.

"No skipping in my class," said Snape, sounding bored.

Reyson heaved a sigh, looking crestfallen.

The class seemed to last for an unnaturally long time, and I always gave an involuntary shudder whenever Snape called on me. He was the only teacher that used our last name, so, of course, I was Miss Black. He always sounded depressed, too, as if he had no hope for ours or anyone's success; it made me wonder what had happened to him that made him so bitter.

"Miss Black," he snapped suddenly, shaking me out of my thoughts, "Are you paying attention?"

"Yes, Professor Snape."

"What page are we on?"

I looked down at my book. _Oops._ "Fifteen?" I said hopefully.

"Miss Nidell," he said, addressing Alice. "What page are we on?"

"We're on page twenty, sir," she said primly.

"In the future, Miss Black," he began, emphasizing my name. Did I hear malice in his voice? I only forgot what page we were on, for goodness sake. "I hope that you will represent your intellectually-minded house more appropriately. Five points from Ravenclaw for being five pages behind."

Whatever had happened to him, I decided that he had deserved it.

When class was finally over, Marcia jumped up, grabbing her belongings quickly before rushing out the door.

"Oi, Marcia, hold up! Wait for us!" Tilly shouted, rushing after her.

Reyson and I glanced at each other and shrugged. Five minutes later, we met Tilly and Marcia in the courtyard, where our Flying lesson was about to take place. Two rows of broomsticks had been placed opposite each other. Marcia had chosen one, and was now standing at attention, waiting for the rest of our year to arrive. Tilly was glancing at her bemusedly, standing by the broom next to Marcia's. We made our way over and stood next to them.

"Uh, Marcia, I understand that you're excited about flying and all, but why are you being so serious—" began Reyson.

"It's nothing. Flying is just important to me, that's all."

I was about to ask why it was important, but I was interrupted by the teacher's whistle. The rest of our year had trickled in behind us.

"All right, class. Pick a broom to stand by and we will begin," said the instructor. She paused as everyone quickly found a broom. In the corner, two Hufflepuff boys began having a very heated whispered discussion while standing by the same broom. "It really doesn't matter which one you choose. They're all old school brooms that won't do anyone else any good, which is why we're using them here."

"Now then," she continued, when one of the boys had moved to a different broom, "I am Madame Hooch, and I teach all first-years the wonderful art of Flying."

To be honest, the lesson was rather dull. I successfully managed to get on my broom, and I even hovered a few feet in the air, but that was as far as I got. Reyson had a little more luck; he managed to do a few turns, and landed prettily; but Tilly, on the other hand, barely got on hers before falling off again.

Marcia definitely topped everyone in the class. She was able to get on her broom immediately, and when she did so, she automatically guided it into the air, and proceeded to fly around all of us, swerving around the others in the class who had managed to get off the ground. The three of us grinned and cheered her on.

"Miss Lane," asked Madame Hooch, "Did you practice before this lesson?"

Marcia blushed again. "I'm a Muggle-born, ma'am."

"I see. All right everyone, that's it for today. Flying lessons are every Tuesday and Thursday for the duration of September and October, though I may release you early if I feel that more training will do you no good. Class dismissed."

We walked back to the common room, praising Marcia's miraculous skills. "You were amazing, Mars!" shouted Tilly, a little too enthusiastically. A sixth year shook his head in our direction.

"I don't know if I can keep hanging out with you people. All the teenagers keep giving us strange looks," said Reyson.

I was feeling daring and elated, so I stuck a tongue out at the sixth year. He turned away quickly, pretending like he hadn't just been insulted by an eleven-year-old. "Then we give them strange looks back!" I said, grinning.

My companions nodded in agreement. We had arrived at the bronze eagle.

_"What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?"_ the eagle inquired.

"Wow. That's the best you've got? That didn't even sound poetic," said Reyson.

The eagle glared at him and turned back into a bronze knocker. "The answer is a towel," I said hopefully, but it remained unmoving. "Oh, fantastic. You were rude, so now it pretends like you were answering the riddle incorrectly," I said, glaring at Reyson.

Marcia and Tilly let out a collective moan, and Reyson scratched his head. "Erhm…Sorry, oh great eagle, the answer is a towel. Open says-me."

The eagle looked straight ahead stonily, ignoring him.

Ten minutes later, Amy and Eva joined us at the step.

_"What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?"_

"A towel," said Eva, and the eagle glanced at Reyson reluctantly before opening itself.

"Great, now the eagle hates us," said Tilly, collapsing onto a couch dramatically. Marcia joined her.

"It's true. Next thing you know, Reyson will insult our dear old founder over there," Marcia said, indicating the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, "And she'll kick us out."

Reyson hung his head in shame, so I patted him on the back sympathetically. "It's all right. The hat must have finally gone crazy, putting both a Black _and_ a Calill in Ravenclaw."

"Speaking of the hat," Reyson said, suddenly perking up, "What did he say to you guys?"

Marcia replied, "For me, he just said that I had a great mind with lots of potential, and announced Ravenclaw."

"He didn't say anything to me," said Tilly. "I put it on, and then took it off when he said 'Ravenclaw'. My dad was a Muggle-born Ravenclaw, and my mum was a half-blood Ravenclaw, so it wasn't that surprising. I didn't know he talked to anyone."

"Oh," said Reyson, sounding disappointed. "What about you, Yune?"

I hadn't thought about what the hat had said since the welcoming feast. "Well, actually, he considered putting me in Slytherin or Gryffindor," I said, remembering. "He said that…" I broke off.

_"Hmm," _the hat had mused,_ "And where shall we put you? I could put you in Slytherin; I've put plenty of Blacks there before."_

Then I had told him no. And then he had talked about my parents. _My parents._ My parents had been wizards! A Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw.

"…That what?" urged Reyson.

"Nothing. He just had trouble deciding." I wasn't sure why I didn't want to tell him about the conversation the hat and I had. I just needed more time to think about it. Yes, that was it. Just needed to think.

"Oh," he said again.

"And what did he say to you?" I asked him.

"Nothing. Not really. Just debated a little, like you said."

I wondered what the hat had really said to him, but I didn't ask. I didn't want to tell, either; we deserved our privacy.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," said Tilly, clapping her hands together. "Who's up for dinner?"

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><p><strong>Silly Tilly. Hehe, that rhymed. Anywho~ If you liked it, hated it, thought it was okay, or just got bored, please let me know by reviewing or PMing me! Would love to know what you think.<strong>


	5. Of Blondes Thinking & Other Revelations

**A/N: Woah woah woah. What's this? A chapter? But, it's not Saturday!**

**SURPRISEEE.**

**This is just a tiny little bonus chapter I was inspired to write by a certain trailer that was released today…Namely, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2. Which I am very excited about, and if you haven't seen it yet, go watch it. So, in honor of the last Harry Potter movie trailer (*sniffle*), please enjoy this little dialogue that the foursome have after returning from dinner.**

**Oh, and this is just a little spoof, please don't take it seriously. The only reason I call it a chapter is because I don't want to mess up the numbers matching up :3**

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><p>Ch 5: Of Blondes Thinking and Other Revelations<p>

**September 3rd, 1992**

Reyson stared into space, obviously deep in thought. When we had reached the common room, we had promptly collapsed onto the couch near the fireplace we now claimed as ours, our eleven-year-old bodies somehow squeezing onto one couch.

"Uhm, Reyson, care to share your little epiphany?" Tilly asked tentatively, seeing his expression.

Marcia bobbed her head encouragingly.

"Well, I was thinking."

"NO WAY. You were _thinking_?" I exclaimed. "I didn't know blondes did that."

Reyson glared at me. "I was thinking that what if, one day, muggles came up with some crazy idea about witches and wizards, and made an entire book and movie series about us!"

"That's ridiculous, muggles aren't that brilliant," said Tilly.

"Oh I dunno," I said. "Blonde-boy has a point. I mean, they've got to wonder about magic and all that. I did before I found out it was real."

Marcia bobbed her head again.

"Number one: don't call me 'blonde-boy'. Number two: thanks!" said Reyson.

"No problem, blonde-boy."

He glared at me again. I should start collecting those.

"Yeah, just think about Harry Potter; him surviving and stuff would make a pretty good base for it," Tilly mused.

"Exactly!" said Reyson. He started staring off into space again.

"_Now_ what are you thinking?" Marcia asked.

"Well," he began, grinning cockily. "I bet we'll be in it too and actually save the day in the end. I mean, Gryffindors may be brave, but where would they be without the brains behind the operation?"

"Yeah, but muggles _really_ aren't smart enough to come up with that. They'll probably have this whole saga about Harry and leave the Ravenclaws greatly unappreciated," I said, sighing dramatically.

"Maybe someday our amazing-ness will be appreciated…" said Reyson.

"Well, we have to actually do something amazing first," noted Tilly.

Marcia said, "Well, of course we will. I mean honestly, we're only a couple days into first-year."

"And then we'll be documented by some crazed fan of those books, who reads between the lines and realizes that we're awesome enough to have a story, too," I said confidently.

Reyson grinned at me appreciatively. "My point exactly!"

"Now that we have that taken care of, I'm tired. I'm off to bed," said Marcia, getting up.

Tilly stretched extravagantly on the couch. "Yeah, me too. You coming, too, Yune?"

"Yeah, all right. Night, blonde-boy." I patted Reyson on the head and followed them to the staircase entrance.

"Stop calling me that!"

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><p><strong>Pshh. What do you mean the characters were purposely biased and referenced the author as being an awesome person who appreciates Ravenclaws? What? I wouldn't do that. Must have been coincidence.<strong>

**Just kidding, I totally did.**

**Hope you enjoyed the little extra! I should still have your regular chapter up Saturday. Let me know if you liked it!**

**Last thing: I still have a poll up on my profile asking who your favorite character from the story is so far. I would love your feedback so that I know who you want to see more of! Oh, and if you choose the option for "other," it would be awesome if you send me a quick PM telling me who the "other" character is. Thanks(: See you Saturday, luvs!**


	6. Of Mysteries Solved & Mysteries Found

**A/N: Wooo, longest chapter yet! This chapter was an interesting one to write. I just sat down at my computer Friday night and forced myself to type, and this is what resulted. Overall, I think it turned out pretty good though. Hope you like! As always, read and review~**

**Thankyou's go out to: Mercy'sFoundaWayforMe, who has agreed to be my beta :D WOOO YOU ROCK YEAHHH etc. (: She's pretty freakin awesome like that. For being awesome, you get a cookie(: The special ingredient is love. This chapter went through her a tiny bit after I first put it up, so now it's the revised and reviewed version(:**

**More thankyou's to Isabelle Sparrow, yvonna, flowerspot, Isle of Capri, ladymoonsoar, and thecompletebookworm for following my story, and an extra big thank you to CatchingCraziness for never failing to review a chapter and being an awesome support(: You all get cookies too :D Quick note about CatchingCraziness, she's been doing a fanfic all about the lives of the Marauders! She just finished their first-year, and she'll be doing Year 2 next, so go check it out!**

**IMPORTANT: I added this little note to the first chapter already for those of you visiting the story for the first time, but for those of you who might not see it, Yune is pronounced YOO'nee, which rhymes with "looney." Just to let you know(: Enjoy!**

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><p>Ch 6: Of Mysteries Solved and Mysteries Found<p>

**September 6th, 1992**

We did it! I can't believe it, but we did it! With flying colors, too, if I do say so myself; we had even finished all of our homework already! Yep, that's right—we had survived the first week of Hogwarts. And now, we found ourselves gathered around a familiar blue couch by the fireplace in Ravenclaw Tower, with absolutely nothing to do on this fine Saturday afternoon.

Marcia was sitting on one side of the couch—well, if you called it sitting. She was in her usual position of feet hanging over the back, and head resting on the seat, with a book held above her face. Tilly was on the opposite end, head on the armrest and legs semi-laid out, her toes burrowed under Marcia's back, eyes closed. Reyson was teaching me how to play wizard's chess, so we sat on the floor on either side of the coffee table in front of the couch.

As one of my chess pieces demolished another one of his, Reyson announced, "Right. This is sad. It's our first weekend of Hogwarts and we're sitting around doing practically nothing."

Tilly's eyes popped open. "He's right. This _is_ sad. We need to get out of the common room."

I shrugged. "I think he's jealous that I only just learned how to play, and I'm already better than him at this game."

He glared at me. That was the eighth time since Tuesday night! I must be getting better at annoying him. "No, I'm not _jealous_," he defended. "We just need to do something worthwhile!"

Marcia suddenly flipped herself right-side-up and closed her book. "Well, I'm hungry. I think we should go find where they store all the food they conjure up at every meal."

"Now we're talking!" said Reyson.

So, with food in mind, we set out. As we descended the swirling staircase, we bumped into a group of giggling girls.

"Hey, shorties, out of the way now," said one.

"Emily, be nice. Hullo, I'm Cho, and this is Emily, Marietta, Amanda, Bianca, and…Vanessa, wow, almost didn't see you back there!"

The girl named Vanessa waved timidly from the back of the group.

"Uhm…Hi…Nice to meet you?" said Tilly, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. I interpreted the look to mean, _great, more giggling girls._ I shrugged in response and tried not to laugh.

Reyson was staring up at Cho. "I'm Reyson, I like your name it's pre—erhm, well, I like it." He paused. "And I'm Reyson."

"Yes, you said that already," replied Cho. The girls behind her started giggling again. "We're third-years, so if you need anything, let me know, won't you?"

"Of course, we would love to let you know! You're really—"

"Right, nice to meet you Cho, we have to be going now," I interrupted.

"Wait, before we go, do any of you happen to be on the Quidditch team?" piped up Marcia.

Cho smiled. "Yep, I tried out this year. I'm their Seeker!"

"Wow, that's really awesome! Do you happen to know if maybe I'd be allowed to try out? I'm already pretty good on a broom and I—"

"First-years aren't allowed to try out, sorry," cut in the girl named Bianca.

"Well, she's right, they aren't, sorry. Tryouts are next Wednesday after the last class of the day, though, if you want to watch," said Cho. "Harry Potter got Seeker in his first-year, but he was an exception. He's just a really amazing Seeker; I wish I was as good as him!"

Two of the girls, Marietta and Emily, exchanged a rolling of eyes behind Cho's back. _I wonder if Cho talks about him a lot_, I thought to myself.

"I bet you're an amazing Seeker, Cho! I can't wait for the first game, I'll be there," promised Reyson.

Tilly said quickly, "Right, well, we're probably clogging up the stairway. We should get going."

I nodded in agreement, and we squeezed by the group, dragging Reyson with us.

"She was pretty," said Reyson simply, when we had reached the bottom of the stairs.

"If you're gonna start talking about that all the time, you're gonna have to find some friends that are guys," said Marcia.

"Aww, Reyson's found his first crush at the tender age of eleven," Tilly sang out. "'I bet you're an amazing Seeker, Cho! I can't wait for the first game, I'll be there! And I'll make a sign that says 'I LOVE YOU CHO, MARRY ME?' and then I'll wave it in the stands and it'll be awesome! Oh, and my name's Reyson!'"

Reyson gave her a stony look, and his cheeks flushed. "Quiet, don't let them hear you! I don't want to marry her, she just seemed nice!"

"Yeah, _okay_," I said. "C'mon blonde-boy, we were searching for food, remember?"

At the prospect of food, his face lit up, but then he glared at me for the ninth time when he realized I had called him blonde-boy again. "How would you like it if I called you girl-with-the-black-hair?" he said.

"I wouldn't like it. How about 'raven-girl'?" I suggested. "You know, 'cause I'm in Ravenclaw, and ravens are black."

"Or, raven-girl-of-the-black-hair-to-match-her-Black-name!" he announced.

I stopped walking abruptly. A fanged smile flashed in my mind.

_Black hair to match your black name and black heart._

He turned and saw that my eyes had started to tear up a little. "Yune, what's wrong? I didn't mean to—"

"It's nothing, I'm fine. I'm not really hungry; I'm going back to the common room, I think." I fled back down the corridor, the tears starting to fall, feeling like I was being chased by something. I thought of the Dream that I hadn't had since my birthday, of where I was fleeing a large building towards a forest, and people were pursuing me.

"Yune, wait!" shouted Tilly. Three pairs of footsteps were following me. I let them catch up, and I felt Reyson's hand on my arm.

"Hey now, hey. Raven-girl, stop crying. I forgot about black not being your favorite color," he said.

Marcia said nothing, and instead just gave me a hug. When she pulled away, I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and said, "Sorry. I overreacted. I just…had this dream on Monday night that…and there was another Dream I had before that just…"

"You can tell us, you know," said Tilly.

I hesitated, but then relented and told them about both nightmares. When I had finished, Reyson exclaimed, "You should be proud of yourself! You're special. You got into Ravenclaw even though supposedly it's against the odds. Kinda like me! We're just cool like that."

"I guess so. The weird thing, though, is that when the Sorting Hat was on my head, he…" I broke off.

The three of them looked at me expectantly.

I sighed and continued, "He said that neither of my parents had been in Slytherin. My dad was in Gryffindor, and my mom was in Ravenclaw."

"Wait—you're not a muggle-born?" asked Marcia.

"I guess not, unless the hat just made it up." Seeing her slightly disappointed expression, I added, "But I don't remember them, so I might as well be." She formed a small appreciative smile in response.

"Maybe your dad's last name just happened to be Black," said Tilly, "and he wasn't actually related to any of the other Blacks."

"Yeah, maybe. I dunno, though; the Howlers were yelling about all of this Black family heritage stuff."

"Maybe you just filled that in with your own imagination; I mean, people had already told you about the Black family," Reyson put in.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, I think I regained my appetite. More exploring, yes?"

And with that, we set off again, and I shook off the dreams for the time-being. It had felt good to tell them to other people; it was a sort of release from them, somehow.

"If I were food, where would I be?" asked Reyson, as we walked in no particular direction.

"Well, it's probably near the Great Hall somehow, since that's where it has to pop up," reasoned Marcia.

We headed in that direction, and wandered about for a bit until we found ourselves in the dungeons. When we noticed that we had passed several Slytherins, who were all giving us strange looks and glares, we guessed that we had landed in the snake's nest, and quickly backtracked to the Great Hall.

"Well, it's not that way. While we're exploring, does anyone know where the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors live?" I asked.

"I dunno about Hufflepuffs, but Gryffindors are in a tower like ours, except no steps leading to the door. I visited earlier this week to see Mark," said Reyson.

After a few haphazard searches for a kitchen entrance around the Great Hall, we decided we would go look around the Gryffindor zone, with the vague thought of introducing ourselves to Reyson's brother. We eventually reached a portrait of a very large lady.

"What are Ravenclaws doing here? Off with you! Unless you know the password, of course—which is doubtful, no matter how smart you are," said the lady.

"All right, all right, sassy. We were just trying to see if my brother was around," said Reyson.

"Oh my, you're a Calill, aren't you? Yes, I can see it in your blue eyes and sandy hair," she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

I glared at her steadily. I wondered fleetingly if my Gryffindor father had ever been annoyed by his House's protector.

"Uhm, yeah. My brother's name is Mark. Let's go back to the Great Hall," he said, directing his attention back to Tilly, Marcia, and me.

We walked away from the Gryffindor entrance and saw a group of three people walking towards us. I recognized them from our first breakfast at Hogwarts: Harry, Ron, and the bushy-haired girl; I don't remember if anyone had mentioned her name. Seeing our blue ties, they gave us a confused smile and kept going.

"Password, please!" said the fat lady.

"Unicorn tails," said the girl, and they marched in.

We walked away quickly, hoping no one would notice we had overheard the password, and somehow get us into trouble.

"I don't get it," said Marcia, after we were out of sight of the door, "Why'd Harry get to be on the Quidditch team in first-year? Was he the exception just because he's still alive?"

Reyson and Tilly glanced at each other, but I nodded in agreement. "I don't think it's fair; we all saw how great you are on a broom, you should be able to try out," I said.

"Well, I do agree with that," said Tilly. "Maybe if you showed up to tryouts on Wednesday they'd give you a chance."

She blushed. "I dunno; I'm not that great really. Actually, I…I have a secret about the whole flying thing," she began.

I looked at her curiously, but she didn't meet my eyes. "I'll tell you later. Too many people, and besides, we're in the middle of red and gold territory," she said. She had a point, so we walked on without questioning her further.

When we reached the Great Hall again, we decided to set off in a completely different direction. When we were scared that we would get lost, we retraced our steps back to where we had started before going down a different hall or up a different stair. In this way, we started to get pretty familiar with the castle. Our finds had ranged from a portrait of a positively mental knight named Sir Cadogan, to a very ugly statue of a humpbacked witch.

Eventually, we found a quite cozy underground corridor, where we finally discovered the Hufflepuff common room. We continued down the hallway until we found a strangely-placed picture of a bowl of fruit. It wasn't even a magical bowl of fruit. It didn't move; it was just a bowl of fruit. I poked the apple randomly. It giggled. "Oh good," I said aloud, "I was starting to think there was something normal in this castle."

Reyson poked the apple repeatedly, and it went into hysterics; then he tickled the pear. But to our surprise, it didn't laugh; it turned into a handle. "Well, that was unexpected," he said.

Tilly gave it an experimental tug, and the wall and portrait swung open to reveal what we had set off to find several hours before.

"Wizards! There are wizards here, and right before dinner, too!" yelled something from inside.

Before us was a room that was the exact enormous size of the Great Hall, with tables identical to those we ate at. Surrounding them were an enormous number of pots, pans, and every other kitchen item, as well as strange creatures who seemed to be doing the cooking. One of them placed some food on a spot on one of the tables, and it disappeared. I guessed that it reappeared directly above this room, on the real table, to be eaten.

"_House-elves_? Hogwarts has _house-elves_?" asked Reyson incredulously.

"I didn't even know they knew how to cook," added Tilly, looking around approvingly. "I'll have to mention that to Mum when I get home."

Seeing our confused looks, Reyson and Tilly informed us that house-elves were creatures that were assigned to wizarding families, with the sole purpose of serving them.

"Isn't that like slavery?" asked Marcia, a little concerned.

"A little," admitted Reyson, "but they don't seem to mind. Actually, they always seem really happy to carry out your demands, like it's what they were born to do. Which, well, it is what they were born to do, so…"

Three of the house-elves had congregated in front of us, where we still stood in the doorway. "Master and mistresses, how can we help? We are so sorry if something has displeased you or…"

"Of course not!" I said. "We're just here because we were curious about where all the food comes from."

"And we were hungry," put in Marcia.

When they heard that we were hungry, we were quickly ushered into chairs, and a few more house-elves came up to us, offering us plates of anything we could possibly want. We grinned at each other, but took nothing.

"It's fine, really. We should get to dinner in the Great Hall, and you should probably finish making it…" said Tilly, glancing around at all the distracted creatures.

After some convincing, they went back to work, and we slipped out of the kitchen. All of the smells had been mouthwatering, though, so when the portrait door swung shut, we raced back to the Great Hall and took our seats at the Ravenclaw table, where we promptly dug into our food. I appreciated it a lot more now that I knew where it had come from.

When we had eaten our fill, we trekked back up into Ravenclaw Tower. "I don't think it's very fair that Ravenclaws are the only ones that have to climb a really tall and annoying spiral staircase every time they want to return to their dormitory," said Reyson.

"I agree with blonde-boy," I said, climbing up another step.

To my surprise, he said nothing in response to his nickname. We remained silent until we reached the eagle.

"_If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you haven't got me. What am I?"_ he asked.

Oh dear. It had been changed, and we hadn't received the new answer yet.

Before I could come up with the solution, Marcia said, "A secret."

The eagle opened reluctantly, and I suddenly realized it had changed itself for us specifically. I glared at Reyson.

"What did I do?" he asked innocently.

The girls sighed, and we headed to our couch. "Speaking of secrets," said Tilly. "I believe you have one to tell us, Mars."

Marcia nodded. "Well, you see…" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I had ridden a broom before I found out about magic."

After the build-up, the secret was a little melodramatic, but it was still pretty surprising.

"How'd you manage to do that?" Reyson asked.

"Well, I live out in the country, so we had a little bit of land around, so no one could see. But I'm skipping ahead. I'm guessing my parents had somehow managed to get a wizard broom by mistake. I picked it up to sweep the kitchen one day when I was little, and, since I was only around 6, I decided to ride it like a pony for fun. When I got on it, though, I immediately rose into the air a little and hovered. It was the weirdest thing at the time, let me tell you…" She shuddered.

"But anyway, when I discovered this, I snuck it out of the house one day and decided to see if I could actually move around on it. As you could probably guess, I could. So ever since then, I would take it out at night about once every month after that."

"Didn't you suspect something weird?" I asked. "Like, did you ever think of a witch when you flew around at night? I mean, that's a pretty stereotypical muggle idea of a witch, so…"

"Well, yeah, I did think about that. But there wasn't much I could do about it, was there? So I just enjoyed riding my broomstick, and I guess when my letter came, it did soften the shock a little," she replied.

"Well," said Tilly. "I've come to the conclusion that I have the most boring life of anyone here. Yune told us about having strange dreams earlier, Reyson is supposed to be in Gryffindor, and Marcia secretly used a broom in the muggle world without having any knowledge of magic. And then there's me, whose parents were both in Ravenclaw, I got in Ravenclaw, and I didn't do anything unusual growing up."

"Don't be silly," said Reyson encouragingly. "You're pretty weird."

"Yeah, you would still be hanging with Amy and Eva if you were normal and had any sense at all," I pointed out.

"Thanks guys. I feel loved and appreciated."

"Any time!"

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><p><strong>Now, guys, I will not tolerate teasing Tilly anymore tonight. And I'll stop with the alliteration, too. And the lame jokes, while I'm at it.<strong>

**Reviews = love, and love = cookies. As always, spread the cookies, even if it's just a quick hello(:**

**Also, I still have a poll up about who your favorite character in the story is so far, please drop by my profile and check it out, it would help loads!**


	7. Of Trying Tryouts & Awkward Auditions

**A/N: Hullo everyone! Happy Saturday to you all! This chapter is dedicated to Professor Jowers and Dr. Weber, a married couple that, between them, leads three different choirs. I've participated in two of them, both led by Professor Jowers, and Dr. Weber leads a college choir that my sister was in. My take on the Hogwarts Choir will be roughly based on their choirs.**

**This chapter isn't as long as Ch 6, but Ch 6 was the longest chapter I've written, plus you had a bonus chapter, so hopefully you won't mind(:**

**BIG THANKS to Mercy'sFoundaWayforMe and CatchingCraziness for being huge awesome supports for this story; Mercy'sFoundaWayforMe is my beta, but since I finished this chapter late, she hasn't had the chance to look over it yet. Also a big thanks to Alasse24 for her awesome review and for adding me to her alerts and favorites. Isle of Capri, flowerspot, ladymoonsoar, thecompletebookworm, yvonna, and Isabelle Sparrow are also all awesome for having the story on alert(: They all get super awesome prizes of their choice. You know, the virtual kind.**

**WANNA WIN AN AWESOME VIRTUAL PRIZE LIKE THESE LUCKY GUYS? Subscribe and review :3**

**Last time I'm gonna say this: Yune is pronounced YOO'nee, which rhymes with looney. And without further adieu, take it away, looney Yune.**

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><p>Ch 7: Of Trying Tryouts and Awkward Auditions<p>

**September 9, 1992**

Tilly and I casually walked over to the couch where Marcia and Reyson sat doing homework. Marcia looked up, quickly read our expressions, and said, "Uhm, Reyson, I have a bad feeling about this…"

Reyson eyed us suspiciously. "Do you think we should hide, Mars?"

"Don't be silly," I said. "It's just that…"

Tilly continued, "…On the notice board…"

"…The date for choir auditions was posted, and it's tomorrow at 4 pm..."

"…And we're all going to audition!" Tilly finished exuberantly.

They groaned. "Told you we should have hidden," Reyson muttered to Marcia, then looked back at us. "Would it help if we said that we didn't want to?"

"No, not really," I said.

"I can't go."

"But you _have _to go, Marcia. All four of us need to go together," urged Tilly.

"No, seriously, I can't go. Tomorrow is Wednesday, remember? Quidditch tryouts are at the same time, and I want to watch," Marcia replied.

"Well…" Tilly began, glancing at me. I just sighed, so she continued, "Fine. Good enough excuse. Reyson, however, is going."

"I want to watch tryouts t—"

"Well, now that that's settled," I began, cutting him off, "Reyson, can you help me with my Transfiguration homework?"

His brow furrowed, and for a second I thought he was actually mad at me, but then his face relaxed as he sighed. "Yeah, all right. Bring your paper over here."

"Thanks, blonde-boy!"

"On second thought, do it yourself."

**September 10, 1992**

"Miss Black, what is the name of the potion we will be learning about today?"

"The Boil-Cure potion."

"What is the name of the ingredient that changes this potion to turquoise?"

"Stewed horned slugs."

"How many times does this potion turn back to pink before it is complete?"

"Twice, but when it is in the last stage, at which point it is red, a good tip is to continue heating until it turns pink for the third time."

"Surprisingly, all answers were correct," said Snape. His mouth curled as if he was about to do something painful. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."

My eyes widened in surprise. Snape was giving _me_ house points? Well, I guess he had to do it sometime. I had already proved to be one of the best students in the class. Maybe that was why he was always so hard on me. _Ha ha. Good one, Yune._

Reyson nudged me in the ribs. "Ow!" I said, rubbing my side.

"What was that, Miss Black?"

"Nothing."

"I'm sure it was," Snape responded drily. "Those house points can be taken away, you know."

"Yes, Professor." When he looked away, I glared at Reyson. "Hey," I whispered, "He actually gives us points, and you have to go and do that?"

"That was for making me go to auditions after this," he said.

"Fair enough."

When class was over, Marcia walked to the Quidditch field, leaving the three of us to make our way to the Great Hall, where the auditions were to be held.

"Oh, look," said Reyson, when we entered the room, "Nobody's here. Guess it's the wrong time, we should go back—"

"Look, there's Professor Flitwick," said Tilly.

We walked between the tables until we reached the front of the room, where the professor was stooped over a bag. He pulled out something metal and quickly unfolded it to reveal a music stand. Then he reached in the bag again and pulled out sheets of music. When he had laid them on the stand neatly, he finally turned around. Upon seeing us, he jumped, knocking over the stand and causing papers to fly everywhere. I quickly bent down to help him pick them up.

"Oh dear me, sorry about that, children; didn't see you, you know," he said, flustered. When we had picked up the last sheet and placed it back on the stand, he asked, "Are you here for auditions?"

"We sure are!" said Tilly.

Professor Flitwick looked overjoyed. "Oh, wonderful!"

Reyson muttered, "Woop-de-doo."

Unaware of the interruption, the professor continued, "A couple of the choir members will be here shortly to hear the potential new members. You can just take a seat at a table while we wait."

We spent two minutes sitting at the table in awkward silence and slight nervousness. Why were we always early to everything? Eventually, more students started drifting in.

"Hello, Professor!" said one of these students, a tall girl with long, curly hair.

"Ah, Penelope, there you are! Did you find anyone who wanted to audition?"

"Yes, Professor, I have them with me," Penelope said, gesturing to two nervous-looking Hufflepuff first-years standing behind her. "Nicholas Alexander and James Garrison!"

"Oh, wonderful! Well, now that we have a few first-years already, we can go ahead and begin. Who would like to go first?" he asked, looking at the five of us. When no one offered, he said, "Very well, I shall pick at random. You, sir," he said, indicating Reyson. "Come up here, don't be shy. Can you read music?" Reyson shook his head. "Very well. For now, just sing 'Happy Birthday'.

When he started to sing, I think my jaw dropped the floor. He had a beautiful treble voice. When he finished 'Happy Birthday', he sang scales with direction from Professor Flitwick. Penelope looked impressed, as did the rest of us.

"Thank you, Reyson. I shall post who gets in the choir and when rehearsals are on the bulletin boards. You may go, unless you want to stay and watch your friends," the professor said.

"Thank you, sir," he said, before sitting back down next to us. We stared at him as if he had sprouted horns. "What? Just because I didn't want to audition doesn't mean I can't sing," he defended.

"Yune, you next, please," Professor Flitwick said. "Can you read music?"

"Yes, sir," I said, getting up. He handed me a sheet of music and instructed me to sing it the best I could. Luckily, I had heard the song before. When I sang the line "Something wicked this way comes," which was also the name of the song, Alice entered the room. When I glanced up from my sheet and saw her, my voice broke, and I became nervous. I sang the rest of the song in a somewhat shaky voice.

When I had finished, Professor Flitwick said, "For reading off of sheet music, that was pretty good. Quickly sing 'Happy Birthday' for me, please."

When I was over the initial shock of Alice being in the room, I regained my composure, and the rest of the audition went pretty well. By the time I had finished, there were about twenty people in the room, some of them first-years auditioning, others who were already a part of the choir. We had to wait through the two Hufflepuff boys, neither of which could sing for the life of them, so we guessed Penelope had dragged them here against their will; Amy, who came late; two Gryffindor girls I didn't recognize; a Ravenclaw boy that I couldn't remember that name of; and Alice before Tilly had her turn. To my dismay, Alice sang very well.

When Alice sat down, Tilly was called up. Her audition went relatively well, though she missed a few of the notes on her song, and had trouble when Professor Flitwick guided her in the scales. When she was done, the three of us left pretty quickly.

When we finally got back to the common room, we found that it was only 5 o'clock, so we decided to relax on our couch until Marcia got back. We didn't have to wait long. Ten minutes later, a very distraught Marcia entered the common room. When she saw us, she blushed and ran up into the girls' dormitory.

We glanced at each other before Tilly said, "Yune, you should go talk to her, you're better at that sort of thing."

I got up and walked up the stairs to our room. When I reached the door, I could hear crying on the other side, so I decided to knock.

"Who is it?" asked a muffled voice.

"Yune. May I come in?"

"Come in, Yune," said a voice that wasn't Marcia's.

When I opened the door, I saw that Luna was sitting on Marcia's bed, next to its tear-stained occupant. I sat down on the other side.

"What's wrong, Mars?" I asked, rubbing her back.

She sniffed loudly and wiped a hand across her face. "Well, I—the tr-tryouts had j-just started when I got th-there, so I sat down in the st-stands to watch. A g-girl who was waiting for her turn came and sat beside me." She paused and crossed her arms across her chest. "When it was the girl's t-turn, a boy named—named B-Bradley came over. He said, 'Who's next?' and I replied that I—that I just came to w-watch, because I was a f-first-year, unless they wanted to see what I could d-do. He s-said that Madame Hooch had told the team about…about…me…and how I was a M-Muggleborn. Then he said that they didn't want…they didn't want…" At this point, Marcia broke off, and started to cry again.

"What didn't they want?" I asked gently.

"A worthless f-first-year m-m-mudblood on their team!" she choked out.

I felt my face grow hot. "That was a very horrible thing of this Bradley person to do. Did anyone else see him call you that?"

Marcia nodded.

"Did they do anything about it?" I asked.

She shook her head. "W-well, the c-captain, Roger D-Davies, looked a little m-mad, but he didn't do anything when I was still…still th-there. I l-left right away."

I hugged her shoulders until her crying calmed down. Eventually, I said, "He had no right to call you that. He's probably just jealous that you're younger than him, and you're already an amazing flyer. You want to try to come to dinner?"

She smiled faintly, but shook her head again.

"All right. We'll have the house-elves fix you a plate, and Tilly and I will bring it to you, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Yune." She turned to Luna, who had just been sitting next to her the whole time, saying nothing. "And thanks, Luna. It was really nice of you to st-stay."

Luna smiled at her, but made no motion to leave. I looked at her gratefully before going back downstairs to Tilly and Reyson.

When I related Marcia's story, they both looked outraged. "I'm gonna kill Bradley!" yelled Reyson, causing a few of the other Ravenclaws in the room to look at us confusedly. I had never seen him so angry.

"I'll hold his arms while you punch him," announced Tilly.

"Don't be ridiculous, guys. This guy is probably 14 or 15. He'd hurt you much more than you would be able to hurt him," I reasoned. When they calmed down a little, I added, "Besides, I don't like fist-fights."

"Well in that case…" began Tilly, her eyes glinting, "We could always…"

I smiled angelically. "Out-smart him?" I suggested.

"In a way," Tilly replied.

"Hmm…Well, I promised Marcia that we'd bring her dinner. We shall think on this later, yes?" I said.

They nodded in agreement, so we headed to the kitchens. The house-elves greeted us excitedly when they saw that it was "the same master and two of the mistresses from a few days ago," and we found out that two of them were called Candy and Lanky. We ate our dinner there, requested Marcia's plate, and thanked the house-elves before heading back to check on Marcia.

To our surprise, Marcia was sitting in the common room when we got back, doing homework. When we handed her the plate, she thanked us with a grin, and proceeded to shovel down the food.

"You seem…better," I said carefully.

She nodded, mouth full of food. "Ib dethided thad—" she paused, swallowed, then continued, "I've decided that I shouldn't waste time crying over a name."

I winced at the wording of her statement. I'd been crying over a name ever since I got here. No one noticed my expression, so I quickly masked it again.

"He can call me what he wants, it's not like names define you," she continued.

I felt like I had been hit with a ton of bricks. What an idiot I've been! "You're right," I said aloud. "Names don't define you."

Marcia looked at me with a mix of surprise and apology written on her face. "Sorry, Yune, here I am talking about names…"

"No, don't worry about it. You're completely right. That actually helps a lot," I assured her. Seeing that the atmosphere was still tense, I added, "See, Reyson? You shouldn't get offended when I call you blonde-boy. Names don't define you." He gave me one of his glares, and we did a poor job of trying not to laugh.

We then informed Marcia of our plan to get back at Bradley. "Well," she said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. How could you pass up a good prank?"

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><p><strong>Oooh. What will our dear foursome scheme up? Ravenclaws are pretty clever…<strong>

**SIDE NOTE: Penelope, Bradley, and eventually a couple other members of the choir that I haven't introduced yet all have some sort of appearance in JKR's books. Also, that is indeed how JKR says a Boil-cure potion is to be made.**

**I'm trying to use as little OCs as possible. OCs include: Yune Black, Reyson Calill, Tilly Lanchester, Marcia Lane, Alice Nadill, Amy Cabana and Eva Miller (the two other Ravenclaw girl first-years), Nicholas Alexander and James Garrison (the Hufflepuffs who audition), and one or two others. I'm keeping track of the ages, etc., of any name I make up, in case I use them later. And if there is any character I can use that is mentioned in the books, I use it instead of making it up. Keepin it real, people.**

**I would really love it if you reviewed. If you don't review, I don't know if anyone actually likes it, or if they think it's horrible, meaning I don't know how to continue, or even if I should be writing it at all! **

**So please keep in mind:**

**Reviews = love, love = cookies. Spread the cookies, dears~**


	8. Of Revenge and Bone Chillers

**A/N: Woah. What's this? I still exist? Yes, I do, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. Sorry for my two month absence guys :( But here is, finally, the COMPLETED Ch 8, entitled "Of Revenge and Bone-Chillers". Oooh. For those of you that have already read the first part of the chapter, the new stuff begins at the place where it says October 30. Or just read it all as a refresher considering it's been so long. Enjoy!(:**

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><p>Ch 8: Of Revenge and Bone-Chillers<p>

**September 20, 1992**

"It's been a week and a half since we vowed revenge on Bradley Hewitt, a fourth year Ravenclaw. And yet the boy still runs rampant without vengeance being done upon him! This must be remedied immediately!" stated Reyson, slamming a fist into his hand.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, blonde-boy? It's not like we're in a movie or something." I drew my knees up to my chest, pulling the astronomy chart that lay on my lap closer to me. I glanced down at it and filled in another blank.

"Movies? What are movies?"

Marcia and I exchanged a look of amazement. "You know, a motion picture," said Marcia.

"But all pictures are motion pictures, dear," Tilly pointed out, sounding as if she was talking to a five year old. Reyson nodded his agreement.

"Not in the Muggle world they aren't," I argued. "But a movie is—well, yeah, think of a wizard photo, except instead of just the characters inside it moving, a whole bunch of characters act out a story, like the kinds of stories you read in books."

"Oh," said Reyson. "Well why didn't you just say that then?"

"Because you don't say the definition every time you say a word, that would render the word useless," said Marcia. "You sure the Hat said 'Ravenclaw?' Maybe it stuttered, and when he tried to say 'Gryffindor', it sounded out as '_Refindah_' or something.

Reyson scowled.

"But you sure do sing pretty," I added. But then it was Tilly's turn to frown. Last Saturday, a week ago from today, Reyson and I had made it into the choir, but Tilly had not. At least Marcia won't be alone now. That would've made her not getting on the Quidditch team that much harder if we all abandoned her every time we had a rehearsal.

"Yeah, a freaking canary, I know," said Reyson, still scowling. Tilly turned away, probably to hide her face from showing her mild case of bitterness.

The tension was building, and as if on cue, Bradley appeared at the foot of the boys' dormitory stairs. Reyson's scowl turned murderous. He jumped up from the couch the four of us had been occupying, accidentally knocking my astronomy homework I was only halfway done with to the floor.

"Reyson, don't," I warned.

At first, I thought he was ignoring me, but then he sank back down, letting his scowl turn into a worried frown. "Whatever," he said, "But we do need to prank him soon." And Bradley, across the room, sat down on a couch with his friend, oblivious of the danger he had been in.

This was something all four of us could agree about, though the atmosphere was still a little strained as Tilly suggested, "We could always charm his broom in the next Quidditch game to mess him up."

Marcia replied, "No, that would affect the whole team, and I still want Ravenclaw to win the Quidditch tournament, even if they won't let me help."

"Yeah, you're right," she consented.

At that moment, the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's house ghost, decided to float into the common room, right through the wall where Bradley was sitting. The fourth year's eyes widened in horror, and to our surprise, he fled the scene, dashing back up to his dorm room. The Grey Lady sniffed, offended.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked my companions, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Oi! Grey Lady!" yelled Reyson across the room.

She turned and floated towards us. "Yes? What is it, children?"

"Why'd that kid run away from you?" Reyson wanted to know.

The Grey Lady put her nose in the air. "Oh. _Him_. He's just always been afraid of us ghosts, I suppose. I believe it has something to do with Peeves during his first year."

"Well, he did turn as pale as—erhm—a _ghost_ when he saw you," said Tilly, grinning. We all rolled our eyes at her. "Hey, come on, that was pretty punny! Get it? Punny?"

"Yes, well, if that's all you need, children, I'll just be—"

"Oh no, please don't leave!" begged Reyson, turning on his charms. "_We _don't think you're scary like that _other_ rude boy."

"Well…If you insist," said the Grey Lady.

"Please, take a seat," said Reyson, waving a hand at the couch across from us.

"Why, no one's asked me to sit in 500 years! Such a nice boy," the lady said, flustered.

While her back was turned, I mouthed to Reyson, _What are you playing at?_ The boy winked and didn't reply.

When she had formed a sitting position, hovering slightly above the sofa, Reyson said, "I bet you were the delight of every ball you went to. I'm sure men would all beg you to go with them."

The Grey Lady stuttered, "W-well, I—I must admit, I went to a party or two in my day…"

"By the by," Reyson continued, before she could start describing them, "Do ghosts ever have parties or gatherings? You know, in large numbers? Here in the castle, perhaps. You're probably the diamond of any occasion now just as you were then."

Suddenly it all clicked. Reyson was a genius. A blonde genius, but a genius none-the-less.

"Not often, though there is an occasional deathday party," she replied.

"Deathday? Is that like a birthday?" asked Marcia.

The ghost seemed to just notice the three girls sitting on the same couch as the nice boy. She glared at Marcia before replying, "I suppose, but deathdays are, of course, the day you die instead of your day of birth. The parties are similar, but deathdays seem to be a bit more mournful…"

"Makes sense," I muttered.

"Are there any deathday parties coming up?" Reyson asked.

"I believe Nearly-Headless Nick will be having his on Halloween this year," responded the Grey Lady. "Why? Were you thinking of going? Or perhaps…taking a date with you?" She inquired, winking subtly.

Reyson blushed. "I—erhm—I dunno. Anyway, we have to go to dinner now. Bye!" He jumped up and headed to the door, the three of us on his tail, muttering, "Well that worked a little too well…"

"Grey Lady and Reyson sitting in a tree—"

"Continue that, Tilly, and I hurt you."

Marcia fell into step next to Reyson. "I take back what I said about the Hat making a mistake. That was brilliant."

Reyson made an elaborate bow. "Why thank you. I'm guessing you caught onto my plan then?"

"The only question is how we get Bradley to show up there," I said, walking on the other side of him.

"Simple," he replied. "Peeves."

"Brilliant!" repeated Marcia.

"Yeah, as long as the prankster ghost actually agrees to work with us," Tilly said.

"Pshaw. Details. I'm still brilliant."

"Don't let it go to your head; you're still a blonde-boy."

He grinned at me cheekily. "And proud!"

**October 30, 1992**

It had been a month and ten days since Reyson had come up with his brilliant plan, but we had soon been lost into a swirl of schoolwork and homework and then schoolwork again, and on top of that, choir for Reyson and me. Because of this, the day before Halloween arrived with us barely noticing, and without being prepared for the day to follow.

As Reyson and I walked out of choir practice, we ran into Tilly and Marcia—literally.

"Oi, watch where you're going, guys," Reyson complained.

They both seemed to be rather out of breath. "Guys," Tilly said exasperated. "Nick's Deathday party is _tomorrow_. Ring a bell?"

"What Tilly failed to mention was that I was the one who remembered…" murmured Marcia.

Reyson and I exchanged looks. "Well, that doesn't give us much time to negotiate with Peeves," I said.

"Wait—if we're setting up this prank for tomorrow that means we'll miss the Halloween Feast!" whined Tilly, peeking at the wonderfully decorated Great Hall that Reyson and I had walked out of. Huge pumpkins and all sorts of décor had been set up by the Gatekeeper, Hagrid, and the other professors.

We all looked at each other with expressions of disappointment, but we would still go through with the prank. This one was for Mars. We set off in search of a certain poltergeist. It didn't take long to find him; all we had to do was listen for the sound of our fellow first years being tortured.

"Peeves!" yelled Reyson, when we reached the area where he was. The poltergeist put down a bucket of slugs that he had been pouring on some students' heads rather guiltily, but when he turned around and saw that it was just more "itty bitty first years", he reached down for it again. "No, no, hold up," Reyson said, putting his hands up; we followed his example.

"We'd like a favor," I said.

Peeves looked at us suspiciously. "What _kind_ of favor? Because I'm not one for being nice to people."

Tilly laughed. "No, you don't have to worry about that."

"I'm listening." I bit my lip as Reyson told him the plan and wondered if we'd be lucky enough to get away without slugs in our hair. When Peeves had heard our story, he cackled and flew away without responding.

"Uhm, does that mean he'll do it?" asked Marcia.

Reyson replied, "Only one way to find out."

"How's that?"

"Wait till tomorrow."

**October 31, 1992 (Boo!)**

Halloween had arrived, and the whole school was buzzing in anticipation. Reyson's plan, as it had turned out, luckily allowed us to at least be at the entrance of the Great Hall, so we sneaked peeks at the layout while students streamed in all around us. Peeves flew down to greet us by flying straight through our bodies; I'd never been that cold before in my life.

"You weren't planning on going inside, were you?" he said, smirking at us. "Twit will be here soon!"

Twit, we discovered, was Peeves's nickname for Bradley. We hadn't bothered to correct him.

"So you'll do it?" asked Marcia doubtfully. She hadn't been sure of the poltergeist's credibility; and for good reason, I suppose.

"Of course I will, Miss Drabbles. Twit is such a…well, a twit!" Peeves cackled at his own joke, and we laughed nervously along with him. We still didn't completely trust him.

We walked over to the side of the Entrance Hall near the mouth of the hallway leading to the Deathday party dungeon. As soon as we spotted Bradley, who was walking towards the Great Hall with two friends, we called him out.

"Oh Bradley, over he-ere," said Tilly in a sing-song voice.

Reyson shouted, "You stink!"

"Yeah," I agreed, "Just a little bit worse than rotten eggs, don't you think, Mars?"

Marcia crossed her arms and nodded, glaring in his direction.

By now, Bradley had blushed scarlet, and several people had turned in either his or our direction. As hoped, he then ran towards us, his two friends in tow. We flew down the corridor, listening to Bradley's footsteps pounding after us; we really hoped Peeves was behind him as promised. When we got near to the place where the party was being held—we could smell the rotting food a few turns away—we slipped into the classroom across from it.

Before Bradley and his friends had caught up, we saw something extremely unexpected. Harry Potter and his two friends had just walked out of the Deathday party.

"What are they doing here?" Reyson whispered.

I watched them as they walked back down the hallway the way we had come just moments before, then press against the wall as our chasers stormed by them. They then continued back up the hallway, casting a few confused glances behind them.

After a few tense moments of us watching Bradley and his friends look around dumbly, we heard Peeves's famous cackle. That was probably the only moment that the sound had ever meant good news. We watched as Bradley and Co.'s eyes widened, and as Peeves cornered them into the room across from us. After a satisfying girlish scream, three boys proceeded to leave the room in a hurry and back down the corridor, Peeves on their tail.

We broke into laughter and high-fived each other. That had gone surprisingly well. After our faces had started to hurt from grinning, Marcia piped up, "But why was Harry here?"

"We should follow him," said Reyson.

Agreements were made all around, and we traced our steps back to the Great Hall. When we got there, everyone was in the Halloween Feast except for three people: Harry, Ron, and that other girl we _still_ didn't know the name of. Harry had stopped next to a wall, leaning against it as if for support.

"Is he hurt?" I whispered.

Before anyone answered me, Harry dashed up the Entrance Hall stairs, Ron and the girl in pursuit.

"Is he mental?" asked Reyson.

Tilly rolled her eyes. "Come on! Let's see where they ran off to."

We ran after them, trying to be as quiet as possible; for some reason, we felt like they were doing something they wouldn't want people knowing about. We raced around a corner, but when we got there, we all came to a complete stop.

_"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE"_

Filch's cat hung, lifeless, from a torch bracket, and the floor was covered in water. The words were written on the wall-in blood. In front of it all stood Harry. We dashed back behind the corner, only to be greeted by a storm of students leaving the feast. We walked with them back to the dreaded wall, trying to look natural.

The first one to speak as everyone started noticing the scene was a blonde boy that I recognized; he was the one who I had made eye contact with once at breakfast. He had sneered at me. "'Enemies of the heir, beware.' You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

I felt Marcia grab my hand for support. I squeezed it. "It's okay, Mars, it's probably just an elaborate prank," I whispered. But I didn't even believe my own words. I linked arms with Reyson to give myself support.

"But why was Harry there?" whispered Tilly.

Well I, for one, was going to find out.

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><p><strong>Ahh, so I really have had a plot all this time! Yep, this is where the real stuff starts happening.<strong>

**I don't have an update schedule as of right now, unfortunately; it just depends on how much I write this week and next week, and then school starts up, so we'll see what happens. But, as you can see, I'm still here, and I'll try to get you a new chapter soon(: Of course, I might be encouraged if you review...So PLEASE DO(:**

**Reviews = love, and love = cookies. Spread the cookies~**

**Much love and apologies for the wait,**

**The Ravenclaw Writer**


	9. Of Buzzing Bludgers and Flaring Tempers

**A/N: Yay new chapter(: I'm starting school on Monday, so who knows what my update schedule will be like...Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this one! Please let me know what you think!**

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><p>Ch 9: Of Buzzing Bludgers and Flaring Tempers<p>

**November 8, 1992**

The rumors spread like wildfire. Apparently, Professor Binns had let slip some information about the Chamber of Secrets in one of his classes, and by now, everyone was talking about it. One week had passed since the mysterious writing. I didn't know what to believe, which was why we were spending our breakfast that morning discussing it.

"Susan Bones told me that the Chamber was opened by Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, after he got kicked out for not liking Muggle-borns. So he made the Chamber, and supplied it with a monster to get rid of them. Now, the heir has obviously opened it again," said Tilly, and then hesitated. Eventually, she continued, "And it's obviously Harry."

Reyson choked on the biscuit he had been eating. "What? No, no, no. He's Harry freaking Potter. He would not be trying to kill Muggle-borns. He's the one who beat You-Know-Who when he was a baby. How could he be the heir to the house who was responsible for the Dark Lord's existence?"

"But we _saw him._ Everybody else was in the feast, remember? Who else would have had the time to do it? Bradley? He may be evil, but he wouldn't do that; he's in Ravenclaw, anyway," argued Tilly.

I shook my head. "Something about this doesn't add up. For one thing, Harry is in Gryffindor anyway, not Slytherin. Secondly, Reyson's right, isn't he pretty much the ultimate good guy here?"

"I dunno, maybe the fame's gone to his head," Tilly said, snorting. "Have you seen the way Colin and Lockhart treat him?"

"Speaking of Colin," began Marcia, possibly trying to change the subject—she'd already become the peacekeeper. Between Reyson's stubborn boyishness, Tilly's strong opinions, and my…well, me being me, someone had to take the job of keeping us from killing each other. "Where is he?" she asked. "I haven't seen him."

"There's a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match today, remember? He's probably drooling over Harry somewhere," said Reyson. When Tilly looked at him funny, he said, "What? I admit Colin's obsessed with him. But I don't think Harry Potter would revert to attempting to murder Muggle-borns and Mrs. Norris because of it."

Marcia's eyes widened when Reyson mentioned the Quidditch match. I knew that look. "You want to go to the match, don't you?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Well, I've never seen a Quidditch game…" I began.

I was interrupted by all three of them getting up simultaneously and pulling me off of the bench. "You will definitely be seeing one today," stated Reyson.

"What—wait, my breakfast!" I moaned, reaching in vain for a piece of sausage on my plate. Reyson had a firm grip on my hand, and Tilly had my arm, while Marcia walked in front of us in a sort of daze.

"Quidditch is more important than food," said Reyson.

"I didn't know you liked anything more than food," I said.

Apparently he did.

Tilly said, "Neither you or Marcia have ever seen a Quidditch game. That should be a federal crime."

They eventually released me as we walked out of the Entrance Hall and towards the Quidditch pitch. I was actually pretty excited. "Do other houses usually go to these games?" I asked.

"Some do, if they like Quidditch enough, I'm sure. But of course, me and Tilly never been to a Hogwarts Quidditch match either," said Reyson.

"Right. I knew that."

The pitch was covered in a sea of red and gold on one side, green and silver on the other. Considering Reyson's brother was in Gryffindor, and any house was better than Slytherin, we sat among the red- and gold-clad students in an unspoken agreement. When the players walked out of the changing rooms, Marcia's face had "envy" written all over it.

My eyes automatically searched for Harry. Reyson's prediction had been right; a few feet away, Colin had somehow gotten down to the field, and was taking pictures of Harry animatedly. I looked over at the Slytherin team. To my surprise, the boy who had shouted about Muggle-borns being the next to go in front of the writing on the wall was the Seeker for the Slytherins.

"Oi! No fair! Why do all the Slytherins have Nimbus 2001s?" complained Reyson. "Isn't that cheating or something?"

"Duh. They _are_ Slytherins," pointed out Tilly.

Moments later, Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and both teams were in the air. I watched for a minute or two in fascination as the red Quaffle was passed among the Chasers in their attempt to score a goal in one of the hoops on either side of the stadium. The Beaters batted around Bludgers in an attempt to hit the players of their opposing team. The third ball, the golden Snitch, I only got a glance of once before it disappeared into the air; it was the Seeker's job to try to find it, scoring his team points and ending the game.

But I only had a minute to see the rules of the game in action before I noticed that one of the Bludgers wasn't acting like it was supposed to. It was chasing Harry. The rest of the stadium had noticed it, too.

Marcia frowned. "Guys, what's going on? Bludgers aren't supposed to chase one person, are they?"

"No, they aren't," said Reyson. Both he and Tilly were staring at sight in confusion.

"Why isn't anyone helping him?" I said, a little too loudly. A few students turned in our direction and looked at me like I was crazy. "What? Are you not allowed to help if someone could get badly hurt?"

"Of course not," said Tilly, "It's Quidditch. People get hurt. That's what the Hospital Wing is for. You can't interrupt the game for a Bludger almost hurting someone; that's what Bludgers are for."

_But it's chasing him, _I felt like yelling. And he was doing all in his power to escape; it just wasn't working. He made another sharp turn; at first, no one thought much of it—he had already been doing that in an attempt to get away from the Bludger. But then…

It was the Snitch. Yes, you could see a tiny fleck of gold shining in the sun. Slytherin's Seeker, however, apparently saw it too. They speeded toward it, both of them attempting to dodge the Bludger at the same time, but Harry was faster. He grabbed the Snitch, sealing the win for Gryffindor, but as he did so, the Bludger hit him straight in the arm. I could have sworn the entire stadium cringed. We had time to see Lockhart walk onto the field and lean down next to Harry before we decided we should leave before the crowds started trampling people.

When we reached the common room, Reyson decided to take a shower in his dorm's bathroom, which left Marcia, Tilly, and I with nothing much to do besides go back to the girls' dormitory. We collapsed on our beds. No one else was there; Luna had been at the game, and who knew where Amy and Eva were.

Tilly broke the silence. "I told you it was him."

I sat up. "What are you talking about? Someone was trying to hurt him!"

"Exactly," she replied. "Someone wanted to kill him before he can hurt a student."

"You're being ridiculous," I said. "He couldn't be the heir, he's in _Gryffindor_."

"Slytherins are cunning. He could have tricked the Sorting Hat."

I laughed. "Oh, please. The Sorting Hat is basically all-knowing. How would someone _convince_ it to put them in a house? It can read your mind!"

It was Tilly's turn to sit up. "Oh, excuse me. I forgot you and the Sorting Hat are tight. You guys had that little chat inside your head. He told you about your parents being all awesome Gryffindor and Ravenclaw people. You sure that was actually _inside your head_ and he didn't tell you anything after all?"

That was too far. I snapped angrily, "Well he talked to Marcia and Reyson, too, remember? You were the only boring one! Maybe you're just jealous of the fact that people like Harry are different!"

Tilly stared at me for a moment. "Don't you dare bring Marcia into the same category as _him_. He's trying to kill people like her!"

"All right, that is it!" Marcia yelled suddenly. "Both of you just quit it! All I know is that thanks to that stupid Bludger, my first Quidditch experience was ruined, and to top it off, my two best friends decide to start fighting about who's out to kill me! Work it out or get over yourselves!" She fled the room, slamming the door behind her.

I felt tears of frustration sting my eyes. Now Marcia was mad at me. I glared at Tilly. "Happy?"

Tilly bristled, and I thought she was going to snap back, but instead, her face softened. "No. I'm not happy. Poor Mars has probably already been scared about the heir; we just made it worse. I'm sorry what I said about your parents."

"Well, yeah, you should be," I said, still mad. "This is your fault, not mine. Take Marcia's advice and get over yourself!" And with that, I left.

I wiped my eyes angrily and stormed down the stairs. I searched the common room and found Marcia crying on Reyson's shoulder on our couch. I walked over. "Sorry Tilly was being such a jerk, Mars. You okay?"

Marcia looked up at me. "Tilly was being a jerk? Well, yeah, but she wasn't the only one."

My eyes flashed. "Yes, she was. She's being ridiculous."

"Hey now, raven-girl, calm down. Mars told me about the argument and about what Tilly said about your parents, but you mocked her, too. Be reasonable," Reyson said.

"Reasonable? Those are my parents, Reyson. I wouldn't make something like that up, okay? They weren't in Slytherin, and neither am I, so just back off!"

"I believe you! But for not being in Slytherin, you sure are acting like one right now!"

I felt betrayed. I thought at least Reyson would be on my side. I ran out of the common room and started to cry.

I don't know how long I was running, but when I stopped, I found myself in an abandoned part of the castle. I had no idea where I was; it looked vaguely familiar, we might've been here when we explored the castle two month ago now. But I didn't even care. I picked a spot on the wall and slid down, hugging my knees to my chest, and cried and cried.

Now that I was away from everyone, I realized Reyson had been right. I had been acting like a Slytherin.

_Black name, black heart._

No. I wasn't going there. I _couldn't_ go there. I was different. But I had lost my temper so easily. I banged my head against the wall in frustration, and then gritted my teeth from the pain it brought. I didn't know who I was. I didn't know where I came from. I felt like I was falling apart. I had been reasonably content at Asbury Orphanage; my life had been lulled into the everyday habits there, and Mrs. Periwinkle had always taken good care of me. But ever since I had gotten my Hogwarts letter, my entire existence had started to unravel right before my eyes.

Who was I?

Eventually, I stood up. I needed to go back and apologize for my words. Words had a lot of power, and I knew how to use them. I had also learned that I had a horrible temper sometimes. I had calmed down enough to recognize my surroundings a little better, so I slowly made my way back.

When I arrived, Tilly had joined Reyson and Marcia in the common room. They grew quiet when they noticed I had returned.

"Yune, I—" began Tilly.

I cut her off. "No, I'm sorry. You already apologized, and I should have forgiven you right there. I'm so sorry, guys."

Murmured forgiveness and apologies were shared all around. I wasn't able to look at Tilly the same way, though.

"I don't know who I am," I said simply.

"I, for one, don't know who I am, either," said Reyson.

I looked at him quizzically.

"Just because I know who my parents are doesn't mean I know everything about myself. This is my first year here, too, you know."

Tilly added her agreement, and Marcia said, "And this has been a complete reality check for me, too. I didn't know magic existed before I came here."

**November 9, 1992**

"Have you heard the new rumor?" asked Tilly as we sat at the Ravenclaw table for dinner the next day. The two of us were doing our best attempt at forgive and forget.

"I've had enough rumors, thanks," I murmured.

She continued anyway. "Colin's been missing all day. People are saying he's been petrified just like Filch's cat."

Marcia choked on her pumpkin juice, and I gave Tilly a reprimanding look. She could have been a little easier about giving the news. She scratched her head awkwardly in response.

"What? No way!" said Reyson. "This is—this is serious. I can't even make a joke about how we won't miss the annoying twerp. Are you sure, Tilly?"

"Pretty sure. Someone said they saw him in the hallway petrified with his camera before the teachers took him away last night."

"Well, that's it then," said Marcia. "We're going to figure out who the heir is. And without _preconceived notions,_" she added, giving all of us meaningful looks. "While Tilly could possibly be right, we don't know whether it's Harry or not. What about that Slytherin who was yelling about Mudbloods?"

We stared at her. "You just used the 'M' word," said Reyson dumbly.

"It's not like I was calling myself or anybody else that. It's just a name. Remember what we said about names not mattering?" she pointed out.

I nodded. "She's right. But as for that kid being the heir, I don't think so. Would the heir really be stupid enough to brag about it right there in the middle of everyone?"

"You never know," said Tilly. "But you have a point. Who else could it be? Well, you know who I think it _could_ be, but…"

"…But we're keeping our options open," finished Marcia.

When we started walking back to our common room, we noticed that a new flyer had been put up on the announcement boards.

_"Dueling Club – December 17."_

* * *

><p><strong>Gettin into some real plot here, can't you tell? ;)<strong>

**Cookies = love, love = reviews. Spread the cookies!**

**Much love,**

**TRW**


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